The Perfect Costume Problem
by AnimaAmore
Summary: All Sakura wanted was a decent costume to wear to Ino's mega-important Halloween Bash. What she never bargained for was the sudden appearance of monsters left, right and centre, all vying for her attention! SakuxMulti, comedy all around! A Halloween story because I can, and I've been writing this story for two years and didn't want to go for three. T for mild language. Enjoy!
1. Chapter 1

** Part I: The Problem **

* * *

Sakura sighed as she folded the store catalogue and placed it on the continuously growing pile of costume catalogues that hadn't passed her expectations.

Honestly, why was finding a decent costume so hard? If they weren't all fluttery, cliché, over-used, plain, boring, or made to make the wearer look like a hooker, then her life would be much easier.

But sadly, that wasn't the case.

She sighed again and looked out her window, resting her chin on her hand, elbow on the table, as she gazed at her neighbourhood preparing for Halloween with a mug of hot chocolate in her hand. Halloween was her favourite holiday of the year. What was there to not like? One gets to dress up as whatever one liked, no matter how loud, strange, fancy, or outrageous the get up was. In fact, the weirder the better. Plus it was so endearing to see all the children dressing up and get so hyped up. They were adorable! And people just had so much fun, playing around, waving away stress, joking and partying. Plus the candy! Who didn't like candy? Well, Sasuke Uchiha, her childhood friend and Mr. Popularity extraordinaire, didn't, but he was on his own on that front.

She sighed for the third time that morning. Yes, Sakura loved Halloween and everything that came with it, but her problem with the holiday was the same every year: finding a costume. As aforementioned, if they didn't make her look like a hooker, or a kid high on sugar, then she'd be a happy girl. For her to enjoy her costume, the costume had to match her in some aspect. Call her picky, but wearing just any old thing from the back of her grandmother's closet just wasn't her cup of tea. To her great chagrin, it seemed that every year there was less and less selection. It's like humanity is losing its creativity; which she found very hard to believe seeing what humanity is capable of.

To make matters worse, Ino Yamanaka, her best girlfriend since elementary school, had proudly announced that she was hosting the biggest Halloween bash of town in her humble (_cough_, expensive, _cough_) home (mansion, _cough, cough_). And Sakura, as her best friend, wasn't just expected to show up – she was also expected to wear a mind-blowing costume to make her diva of a friend proud.

The worst part of it was that she'd had a month to find something. The month was up at ten o'clock, tonight. It was finally Halloween. She had less than eight hours to find something, lest she found herself hanged by her blonde friend by morning. That is, if her ears survive the screeching and guilt-tripping the blonde was sure to submit her to is she didn't come up with something and _pronto_.

Sakura groaned just thinking about it. That just complicated matters. Just as she decided to leaf through the numerous catalogues advertising costumes all over again, just to make sure she hadn't overlooked anything (which she was sure she hadn't), and thinking that perhaps she'd really just have to settle for anything this year and hope Ino would someday forgive (and spare) her, her phone rang.

Surprised at getting a call in the morning, since she knew most of her friends were either sleeping in or working despite it being the weekend, she took a quick sip of her hot chocolate and answered. "Hello?"

"Sakura-chan!"

"Hey, Naruto," Sakura answered with a surprised smile. Naruto Uzumaki, along with Sasuke Uchiha, was an old childhood friend, even older and closer to her than Ino, and was one who loved sleeping until noon, so hearing from him in the morning caught her off guard. "What's up?"

"Have you bought your costume yet?"

"`Fraid not, Naruto. You know how it is."

"Yeah, yeah. Every year it's the same story. 'These look like they belong in some pervert's wet dream!' or 'this makes me look like a deranged rat,' or 'that's gross!'" he whined, trying to mimic Sakura's voice by getting it a few pitches higher. "And with Ino's Halloween party, the pressure's on, no doubt."

"Oh, shut up, Naruto," Sakura said without any real heat, rolling her eyes. Knowing each other for as long as they did, Naruto of course knew of her Halloween costume struggles. He had made a habit of teasing her about it, and she didn't mind so long as he knew when to quit.

"Are you sure? Because there's a brand new costume shop in town, and I hear they have some pretty amazing costumes. That's why I called, to see if you wanted to go see if we could find some costumes together, but since I can't talk to you I guess I'll go all by my lonesome…" he sighed the last part dramatically, and Sakura rolled her eyes once again at her friend, but smiled nonetheless. He was a clown, that's for sure, but he sure knew how to get her spirits up.

"Alright, alright. I take that back, Naruto. Please proceed speaking like you always do."

"I don't know, Sakura-chan, being told to shut up really hurt my feelings." She snorted. As if. The boy was hard to hurt in any way, shape, or form; including his sense of humour which she knew he was using to his advantage.

"I'll buy you a week's supply of ramen," she bribed him, knowing fully well about his strange fixation on the Japanese food after her grandmother, who was Japanese, had served it one day when he was at her house when they were children. He was never the same again.

"As I was saying, the store's called 'Akatsuki,' which I guess is Japanese for 'sun' or something," Naruto said, his voice cheerful through the receiver.

"It means 'dawn,' Naruto."

"Pssh, same thing. It involves the sun. Anyway, the store has costumes from all over the world! Europe, Americas, Asia, Africa, Australia… _everywhere!_ Plus, they guarantee that if you can't find a costume there, they'll tailor one just for you at half the price, including make up and accessories!" He sounded as exited about the place as a kid that was going to Disneyworld for the first time. It was hard to not get infected by his optimism, and at his words, Sakura felt a flutter of eagerness in her chest.

"Really?! Are you sure, Naruto?" she asked him intently. Maybe her prayers were going to be answered with this new shop. After all, if for some bizarre reason she couldn't find a single costume in the seas of costumes they apparently had, then she'd get one custom-made, with everything she'd ever need for the costume all but handed to her in a silver platter. And if she was really super lucky, they can have it done on time for Ino's party. She might arrive a little late, but that's better than not arriving at all. Either way, she was sure to get the perfect costume. It was a win-win situation.

"I'm absolutely, positively sure, Sakura-chan! Plus, the bastard says that if you go, he'll go too."

Sakura froze at his words. The "bastard" was Naruto's nickname for Sasuke. When they'd first met they didn't exactly get along, but after spending years together, their rivalry had morphed into a strong brother-like friendship. Hell, who is she kidding, they were best friends! It's just that the nicknames they'd dubbed each other in the time when they didn't really like one another never really faded away.

Sakura liked to think it was because of her that they became friends. After all, when they were kids, Sasuke's antisocial, cold personality scared away the other kids (even if they all secretly admired him), and Naruto was too much of a prankster that the other kids found him annoying. Sakura had somehow managed to befriend them both, and they realized that if they made her choose one over the other then they'd be hurting her. So they silently agreed to tolerate each other's presence to keep her happy. Eventually they came to consider each other friends, though to this day, they have yet to admit it. Boys.

Sakura suppressed a laugh, returning from her little trip down memory lane. Sasuke was never really one to dress up. He was the serious, calculating, silent type. He only ever participated in such festivities because of her (plus plenty of pestering from others, family included). So if he went along with her and Naruto, then maybe they could coax him to buy a costume that wasn't a tux and a mask like he'd been every other year thus far. She delighted at the thought.

"Pick me up in one hour," she said and hung up. She had to get ready, and her wallet warmed up.

**~X~**

"Where did you say this place was again?" she asked Naruto for the fifth time, impatiently.

"I told you, it was supposed to be right across Old Man Sarutobi's shop!" the blonde defended himself.

"We looked around the whole place, idiot," Sasuke, who was sitting comfortably in the back of Naruto's old car, said monotonously. "It's not there."

"I _know_ it's not there!" Naruto snapped, swivelling his head to glare at his friend.

"_Eyes on the road, Naruto!_" Sakura screeched. Naruto immediately did as she said, but the scowl never left his face.

"Well, you guys saw the advertisement with the directions clearly printed in them. You know that's where the godforsaken shop is _supposed to be!"_ he growled, frustrated. Sakura felt a little bad for him, so she patted his shoulder consolingly.

"Well, what are you saying? That the shop just grew legs and walked off?" Sasuke asked sarcastically, still as stoic as before. And as stoic as he's always been, really. Sakura marvelled, not for the first time, that such polar opposites could be so close.

"Well, why not? It _is _Halloween, after all. You know, magic and spirits and all that." Sasuke snorted, unconvinced.

"As if."

"You know what, I'm just going to ask someone for directions," Sakura huffed, rolling down her window to peer out to see if there was anyone around.

"Aw, Sakura-chan, there's no need for that," Naruto pouted, but slowed down the car nonetheless.

"Hn. I agree," Sasuke said.

Sakura raised her eyebrow at them, a teasing smile on her lips. "Honestly, what is it with you men and asking for directions?"

"Well, for starters, we _have_ the directions," Naruto mumbled moodily as he parked his car by the curb. Sakura ignored him and the equally moody albeit silent Sasuke, and got out of the car, closing the door behind her. She looked around the street for a second before she saw a red-headed man walking in their direction, carrying a small bag over his shoulder. She smiled. Maybe he'd know where the Akatsuki shop is.

"Excuse me," she called to the man as she made her way over. The man looked up at her, looking bored and unsurprised. His eyes were light brown, almost dark amber, and Sakura wondered for a split second if they were natural or coloured contacts.

"Yes?" the man, who really was a young adult, barely out of his teens, inquired politely.

"Hi, um, my friends and I were wondering if you would happen to know where the Akatsuki costume shop was," she said. He looked at her for a second before lazily trailing his eyes over her shoulder at the two faces staring intently at him from within a horrid rusty-orange car. He looked back down at her, and was taken aback by her hopeful expression, although he didn't show it.

"Ah. Akatsuki, yes. I know where it is," he said, his voice soft and eloquent. Her face immediately brightened.

"That's great!" she gushed. "Could you please tell us?" He tilted his head a fraction of an inch, as if contemplating on whether telling her or not, before a tiny, playful smirk made its way onto his face.

"Sure, doll. Go back right up the street, turn left, keep going for two blocks, and turn right. The store is practically that entire block, you can't miss it," he said, gesturing his directions with his hand.

Sakura smiled politely and thanked the man before turning around and taking her seat beside Naruto. They'd already been on that street and there'd be nothing there. How odd that that was where the young man had directed them to.

"So, what'd the dude say?" Naruto asked her. She shrugged and told them the man's directions. Naruto scrunched up his nose, looking unconvinced as he pouted, just as he tended to do when he couldn't wrap his mind around something. "But we've already been there!"

"Hn," Sasuke agreed from the backseat. Sakura shrugged her shoulders.

"I know, but really, what can it hurt to look again? The worst that can happen is that we'll lose ten more minutes of our time," she said. Naruto and Sasuke shared an unconvinced look but agreed, and Naruto started up his car again, manoeuvring it to follow the strange man's instructions.

**~X~**

"What. The. _Hell?!_" Naruto gasped in awe after he'd parked his car.

"Hn," Sasuke said, but even his one simple syllable sounded baffled. Sakura didn't say anything, and just sat open-mouthed at the building they were parked in front of.

"Where the hell did this place come from?! There was nothing there twenty minutes ago! Nothing!" Naruto ranted, slightly freaked out. Sasuke and Sakura shared a look, her eyes open wide in bewilderment while Sasuke's face paled slightly, his lips parted ever so slightly in shock. This was seriously disconcerting.

There, just as the red-headed stranger had said, was an amazingly beautiful gothic building, six stories tall, and nearly the entire block wide. It was painted entirely in black, with black stones and fences, and red curtains covering the inside of the tall-as-a-man windows. The sixth floor, the penthouse, was smaller than the rest of the building, with a few small windows decorating the dark walls. Above the largest door, centred perfectly in the structure, was a sign that read

_AKATSUKI_

_WORLD'S BEST COSTUME SHOP_

_ENTER AT YOUR OWN RISK_

"Well, I'll be damned," Sakura whispered. "Either we're all blind as bats, we're all very stupid, we're all trapped in some alternate reality-slash-dream, or this building literally just _poof_ed into existence."

"See, I told you, bastard! Halloween is the time of witchcraft and the supernatural!" Naruto turned on his seat to gloat at Sasuke, who looked at him with slight irritation.

"Hn."

"Yeah, that's right. That's what I thought," the blonde laughed as he turned back around, having won some silent bet against the brooding teen.

Sakura looked at the building for a moment longer before turning towards her friends. "So," she said. "You guys ready to go?"

The boys nodded and they all got out of the car, walking together towards the entrance of the shop. Sakura hesitated for a second. She'd noticed that the usually busy street was deserted, save for themselves, and that they were the only car parked in the shop's parking lot despite it being midday. It was very unusual, and a little eerie.

She shook her head and placed her paranoia in the back of her mind. It was a costume shop, for crying out loud. What was there to be paranoid about?

So she hooked her arms around those of her two friends and in the three went.

* * *

** Part II: The Shop of Solutions **

* * *

The inside of the store was lighted with soft, almost dreamy light, and it took a few seconds for the eyes of the three friends to adjust to the change of brightness. Naruto, being the impatient dummy he tended to be, wandered into the shop half-blind; almost immediately crashing into a mannequin dressed like an Italian nobleman from the Middle Ages.

"Naruto!" Sakura hissed, helping him up. "Be careful, you idiot!"

"Heheh. Sorry about that," he grinned sheepishly.

"Welcome," a voice greeted the three from behind the blonde boy, causing said boy to let out a shriek in a pitch that would've made an opera singer jealous, jumping into Sakura's arms thus mimicking to perfection a scene from Scooby-Doo. The only difference was that Sakura shot him a glare and abruptly dropped him even though she was more than strong enough to hold his weight.

"Ow! Sakura-chan, that was so mean!" Naruto whined as he rubbed his behind with a pout. Both she and Sasuke merely rolled their eyes at him and turned to look at the stranger who had greeted them.

"Excuse this idiot," Sasuke smoothly said to the man who'd spoken, "but he's just an idiot."

"You just called me an idiot – twice! In the same sentence!" Naruto protested, jumping to his feet with all signs of pain gone. Sakura, sensing a showdown coming on, quickly stepped between her two friends and shot them warning looks.

"You know what? You're both idiots; now shut up and stop arguing," she said. Naruto and Sasuke gulped. While her words had been simple enough, her eyes conveyed the hidden threat in them. They both knew from years of experience that if she was forced into making a threat, she always carried it through.

Painfully.

"No, no," the stranger, who turned out to be a young man in his early to mid twenties from what she could tell, replied with a slight bow in their direction. "It was my fault for startling him so. Please, do not blame him for my mistake. I concede that perhaps I did catch him off guard; however unintentional that may have been."

_What eloquent speech,_ Sakura thought to herself but gave him a complacent smile. "It's alright, no harm done, mister…?"

"Pein, miss," the man offered, raising his bowed head so his eyes met hers. She choked back a gasp. His eyes were like none she'd ever seen, or even heard of, before. They were composed of grey rings with a tiny pupil in the centre, each ring surrounding the previous one, making his eyes look like hypnotic bull's eyes. The rings extended from the centre of his pupil all the way to the outside corners of his eyes. He stepped forward then, perfectly composed, yet his eyes remained unwavering from hers, and now Sakura could see him perfectly as he moved closer.

He had bright pumpkin-orange hair spiked up in all directions, and the little light that was available made several piercings that adorned his face and ears gleam wickedly. His attire was elegant yet very mundane: dark grey jeans with rips by the knees and seams, a few chains tied to his pockets, a black shirt with a red cloud on the centre, and a long black coat without any sleeves; the hems that once held them looking like they'd been ripped off, leaving behind uneven claw-like pieces of cloth that revealed two long, muscular arms which were folded pleasantly behind his back. The elegant part was the way he held himself, like a gentleman from the Victorian era who somehow found himself not only stuffed in modern rocker clothes, but perfectly comfortable in them too.

"Did you just say your name was _Pain_?" Naruto asked, bewildered.

The pierced man moved his eyes from Sakura's emerald-green ones to look at the rambunctious blonde and shook his head. "Not 'pain' with an A, meaning hurt. It's Pein, with an E. P-E-I-N. Pein."

"Well, it's nice to meet you, Pein," Sakura said. "Am I right in assuming you work here?"

"Aa," he nodded. "I do. In fact, I own this shop."

"Really!" Sakura beamed, pleasantly surprised. "That's great! And that's quite an accomplishment, especially since you don't look much older than us. Plus this place is _humongous!_ It can't be easy running it. Congratulations."

Pein nodded, accepting her praise with silence. "Thank you, miss. It's not easy, but I manage. Now, before we get any further off track, I am correct in assuming you all came here for Halloween costumes, yes?" Sakura and Naruto nodded enthusiastically, while Sasuke just stared at him with a tiny, almost imperceptible nod of his head, his lips pressed into a thin line. "Then permit me to assist you. Follow me."

Pein turned silently and walked further into the shop, leaving the three friends to stare at his back for a second before hurrying after him. All the while, Sasuke couldn't help but feel like he'd seen the mysterious man before, a long, long time ago.

**~X~**

Pein led them further into the shop, passing countless mannequins dressed in elaborate, very realistic costumes with shelves stacked to the ceiling with said costumes, and every now and again, some smaller, finer shelves would break the pattern by displaying jewellery and other accessories that complimented the costumes. There were hats of all sizes and colors, boas, tiaras, wands, necklaces of all colors and eras, with fake precious stones cut and placed in elegantly embroidered metal holder; there were shoes of all styles, purses, bags, earrings, rings, etcetera. It looked like whatever was ever needed for any costume was all gathered there.

As they walked along, Pein explained to them the system of his shop ("Your store has a system?" "Shh, Naruto! Of course it must have, running a place this big must need some kind of system to keep track of everything." "Oh, I knew that, Sakura-chan!"). It was amazing how he was able to make his way around the labyrinth of merchandise, but then again, Sakura mused, after working here for years he must have learned to.

"My shop, as you've no doubt noticed, is not only very wide, but also very tall. Six stories tall, in fact, if you count the main one which we're in right now," Pein said. "Each floor has a different theme in which it specializes in. This system was set up because we have so many costumes it was just simpler to categorize them based on their theme and have a specific section for each. But again, like I said, we have so many that we couldn't fit them all in one floor, so we had to build more to accommodate them all."

"You mean all six stories of this place are packed with costumes just like this?" Naruto wondered, amazed as he evaded stepping on what looked like a big fat crow with red eyes. He shivered and kept walking. That was creepy.

"Yes," Pein answered. "The only exception to the system is the main floor. We have samples of costumes from the rest of the other floors so our patrons do not have to go all the way to the top. Most of our patrons are happy with what they find here, but if for some reason they are not, or if they already have a specific type in mind, a broader selection is always available upstairs."

Sakura let out a low whistle. "That's… That's pretty amazing."

"Indeed." Pein stopped them in the heart of the shop, a wide circle empty space with a few seats of velvet cushion spread about the empty space. The shelves around them made several entrances and exits, each zigzagging around the other, each so different yet so exactly the same as the others that Sakura and her friends were at a loss. They weren't so sure they could find their way back; the place, though neat to a fault, was just so confusing it was like being in a house of mirrors.

"This is the center of the shop," Pein said, turning to them. "Every floor will have a center of open space just like this one so our patrons can take a break after they try on their costumes, or as they wait for their aids to retrieve an item. Please fell free to use it to your convenience."

Naruto whooped for joy as he dove towards a love seat that looked oh-so-comfortable, and sighed in contentment as the cushions felt just as soft as they looked. "This is so nice!" he exclaimed. Sakura just shook her head at him before turning back to Pein, only to find his ringed eyes fixed on her already. She shuffled her feet awkwardly.

"Um, Pein, how would we find our way back? I'm sure it's not as complicated as it looks, but this is our first time here and all of these shelves are a bit confusing," she said. _And intimidating,_ she added silently.

Pein continued to look at her in silence for a heartbeat before answering in his eloquent speech. "I assure you that there's nothing to worry about; although I can understand how intimidating this can be for first-time visitors. If you get lost, simply call out for some help. Someone in the staff will go fetch you and guide you to where you wish to go. As well, if you need help with anything else, such as reaching for an item that is too high, finding a specific size, or anything of the like, please feel free to call any one of us. That is what we are here for."

"A-ah, I see. Thank you," she said, looking around nervously. Why was Pein looking so intently at her? Sasuke, sensing her discomfort broke his silence and claimed Pein's attention.

"How do we identify the workers?" the brooding teen asked.

"Everyone who is employed here will be wearing the store's logo, like me," Pein pointed to his shirt, specifically at the red cloud smack on the center of his chest. "The black background and red cloud are the logo of the shop. Anyone wearing the logo, or in costume, is employed here and will be able to assist you."

"Hn. Thank you, then." The blatant dismissal was obvious in Sasuke's voice, and Sakura narrowed her eyes at his rudeness but Pein didn't bat an eye, as he merely inclined his head and turned, leaving the three friends by themselves.

"I hope you all find what you're looking for. I'll be within earshot if anything should… arise," were his last words before he was swallowed by the darkness of the shop.

**~X~**

"Okay, do you guys have any idea what you're looking for?" Sakura asked the boys as they all sat around comfortably on the chairs of the little lounge. They had decided to sit for the time being while they got used to being inside the store.

"Hn. Not really," Sasuke asked with a shrug. "I still don't see why I can't go with the same costume as last year."

"Because Ino would murder you, bastard," Naruto answered him. "Besides, you've worn the same costume for like what? A thousand years? _Bo-ring!_" He sat up straight, pointing at himself proudly with his thumb and grinning widely. "_I_, on the other hand, have decided with all my awesomeness that I'm going as a wild animal!"

Sasuke smirked at his friend. "Finally accepted your roots, idiot?" Naruto scowled at him, but didn't answer. Sakura, not wanting to have a sulking Naruto, spoke up.

"Why do you want to go as a wild animal, Naruto?"

Naruto returned his attention to her, grin back in place. "Because then I can show off my awesome six pack thanks to the barbarian clothes and the animal factor will make all the girls find me cute, so they'll be all over me." He smirked smugly and crossed his arms with a self-satisfied grunt and nodding at himself, pleased. "Oh yeah. I'm just that awesome."

"Tch. You're just that perverted."

"Shut up, you bastard! I never hear anything coming from you except for complaints!"

"At least I'm not thinking of going as an animal-themed stripper."

"Why, you son of a –"

"OKAY! Enough, you two!" Sakura cut in, chopping the air between the two males as if she was actually cutting the tension between them. Then, before either of them could react, she smacked them both upside the head, hard. "Stop acting like children! We're seniors, for crying out loud, practically adults! Start acting like it!"

"Owowow! Sakura-chan's so mean! You'll never get a boyfriend if all you can do is hit him!" Naruto whimpered as he rubbed the back of his head with both hands, looking very much like a kicked puppy.

"Tch. Violent women are highly unattractive," Sasuke agreed, holding the back of his head with one hand while glaring sourly at their pink-haired friend.

Sakura didn't answer, didn't make any move to smack them again for talking back, which was very uncommon for her. When Sasuke and Naruto noticed this abnormality, they cautiously looked at her. There was a heartbeat of silence as the three processed what the two males had said. And, two seconds of tense silence later, Sasuke's and Naruto's eyes snapped open in horror as they realized what they'd just said to their best friend.

Before either of them could say anything, Sakura spoke. "Well then," she said in such a dry voice that the boys felt their hair rise, "since I am such a _mean_, and _violent_ woman who only ever _hits others_ to the point where I am _highly_ _unattractive_ to the male sex, and therefore be alone for the rest of my life because _I'll never get a boyfriend_, I'll leave you two to find your costumes by yourselves while I go find mine, _alone_." Sasuke and Naruto wanted to say something, an apology, anything, but the steel in her voice and the venomous look she was giving them left no room for argument. The damage was done.

After letting them squirm uncomfortably under her icy glare for a second longer, Sakura turned on her heel and marched with her head held high in a random direction, with her final instructions being to call her when they find a costume, and that they'd better find one within the hour or else.

A minute or so after her footsteps had disappeared, a very tense, very guilty pair of friends looked at each other. They were both so ashamed of themselves; they knew the bitter past of Sakura's amorous relationships and they just had to go and stick their foot in their mouth.

"It's all _your_ fault, you bastard! How could you tell her that?!"

"_Me?_ I'm not the one who told her she'd never get a boyfriend!"

"Ugh! You know what, never mind. We sure are quite the pair of idiots, aren't we?"

"Hn."

"Some friends we turned out to be."

"Hn."

"Yeah, I agree."

"…"

"…"

"…so have you thought of what animal you wanted to dress up as?"

"…I was thinking maybe a fox, because they're so cool. You thought of anything yet?"

"Maybe I'll dress up like someone from Assassin's Creed, if they have a costume."

"Yeah, I can see you in that. Better be prepared for your fangirls, though."

"Do _not _joke about that. Alright, what's something that won't attract as much attention?"

"How about dressing like the Tin Man from Oz?"

"Why?"

"You know, `cause you're so heartless and all."

"Shut up, you dolt."

"After you, bastard."

"…"

"…"

"…"

"Say, Sasuke, didn't you notice anything weird about that Pein dude?" Sasuke raised an eyebrow at him in question.

"You, too?"

Naruto nodded. "Yeah. He looks a little familiar – like, I could've sworn I've seen him somewhere before, back when we were kids. But that face of his would be impossible to forget what with the hair, gazillion piercings and freaky ringed eyes."

"Hn. Yeah, I thought so, too." Pause. "Now that I think about it, I don't think I've seen him before, I _know_ I've seen him before."

"But how? I can peg back the feeling of recognition like ten years back. We would've been what, seven?"

"Probably. And now that I think about it, this place is very odd too, even for a costume shop."

"This place gives me the creeps, honestly."

"Hn."

"Do you think Sakura'll be okay by herself here?"

"Probably."

"…"

"…"

"We should probably go find our costumes, then."

"Whatever."

The two friends got up and together headed in a random direction much like their female friend had done, but unlike her, they went so with caution and the uneasy feeling that something was not right with the place, or its owner.


	2. Chapter 2

** Part III: The Madness Begins**

* * *

Sakura was angry.

No, she was beyond angry, she was _furious _– absolutely_ livid!_ How dare they! And they're her friends too, damn it it, her best friends! How could they say that to her?

Sakura allowed her anger to permeate through her, letting it set her blood on fire, but as she walked down the endless aisles of costumes and accessories, her anger evaporated, leaving behind a humming of hurt.

She stopped walking, placing a hand over her heart where the dull hum was coming from. Yes, it hurt. And they knew it too. She sighed, letting her hand drop. She knew they didn't mean anything by it, didn't think about their words. She was just being overly sensitive, and she was very aware of that fact. Still.

"Damn it all to hell," she groaned as she resumed her brisk pace. She needed to get away, to be alone until she completely calmed down. Otherwise, she feared she might break something, or some_one_ if they crossed her path.

She turned a corner and bumped into something hard head-first, nearly falling backwards were it not for a strong hand that had caught her forearm in a firm grip, preventing her fall. She looked up, surprised to see that the mannequin she had originally thought was what she had bumped into was in fact a living, breathing young man about her age.

"Hey, you okay?" the boy asked, his slit-like black eyes looking at her with worry. Sakura couldn't help but notice that he had two twin red upside down triangles painted on his cheeks, looking very much like war paint in the shape of fangs. His dark brown hair was messy and wild, looking like he had cut it himself as it stuck out in every which direction it pleased. Strangely, he didn't look bad like any other person would have.

"I-I'm fine. Thank you for saving me," she said, smiling sheepishly at the boy. He let out a relieved breath before giving her a wolfish crooked grin and releasing her arm. She absentmindedly noted that his canines were slightly longer than was normal, but she paid it no mind as she focused on what he was saying.

"Well, I'm glad to hear that, though I really didn't do anything," he laughed.

"Well, you stopped me from falling, so you therefore saved me from having an achy backside, or having crashed into something. It's a little cramped here."

"Yeah, that's true," the boy said, looking around. He turned back to her, crooked grin still in place. "I'm Kiba, by the way. Kiba Inuzuka. I haven't seen you around here before. Are you a costumer by any chance?"

"I'm Sakura, and yeah, I am," she answered. It was then that she noticed the pile of boxes scattered around their feet, wigs of all colors peeking out from the tops. "Oh, I'm sorry! I'm keeping you from your work!" Kiba glanced down at their boxes before shrugging one shoulder.

"Meh, it's not really that exciting or important. Truthfully, I just did it because there's nothing else to do. Don't worry about it." He took a step towards her then, and casually placed one hand on the shelf beside her head, leaning against it as if he was flirting with her at some party and not an eerie costume shop. Sakura noticed his toned muscles flex with his movements, his black shirt with the store's red cloud logo giving him a bad boy edge. Her mind once again absentmindedly noticed that Kiba's hands were a little odd – his nails were long, sharp, and thick. Before Sakura could process this bit of information, Kiba spoke again. "What _is_ important, though, is that there's a cute costumer right here who seems in need of some assistance. Can I help you, cutie?"

Sakura's eyes widened and she blushed at being called "cutie." No one had ever called her that before, and this guy just pops up and says it! And right after Naruto and Sasuke said…

Naruto and Sasuke.

Those _idiots_.

Well, this is just such a nice turn of events, isn't it? Sakura let a slow smirk uncurl. So she can't attract guys, huh? Well, she'll just prove them wrong.

"Actually, Kiba, I do need a little help. If you could give me a hand, that would be much appreciated," she said, looking at the wolfish boy from beneath her eyelashes. This time, she did notice his eyes dilate, making his slit-like irises widen a tiny bit. Dilation of the eyes means attraction, so she knew she was on the right path.

"Well, what are we waiting for? Let's go find you a costume!" the boy announced, grabbing her hand and determinately leading her through the labyrinth of merchandise. "Do you already have something in mind?" he asked over his shoulder, never once breaking his pace.

She shook her head. "I don't, sadly. Every year it's a struggle to find a good costume, mainly because of my pink hair and because a lot of costumes are a bit slutty."

"Hm. So pink hair and not slutty. I think I know just the costume," he said before quickly adding, "if you don't mind me suggesting some stuff for you, that is."

She smiled brightly at him. "No, that's fine. You know this place and its stuff better than me, so I'll trust you."

He gave her a wide grin, showing off his canines, before resuming leading her through the store.

They ended up by what Sakura could only assume where the changing rooms. "Stay here," Kiba said. "I'll go get the costume. What size are you?"

"Um, normally small, but I'm not sure. Sometimes it depends on the store, and I've never been here."

He nodded, his eyes lighting up. "Well, then I guess we need to take some measurements. See, our sizes go by measurements. All our sizes have a certain range, so if we take your measurements we can find out if you're a small or not."

"Okay. Do you have a tape measure?"

"I don't, but my bud Shino does. He and two other guys work with me on this floor, though most of the time they only take care of the changing rooms. Hey, Shino! Shika! Choji!"

"What do you want, Kiba?" a voice sighed from behind a black curtain labelled "Staff Only." A pale hand pushed the cloth door away and there stood another boy, the same age as them, with a high white turtleneck that covered him up to his nose and dark circular sunglasses despite the poor light in the room. He had a grey tape measure hanging around his shoulders.

Two other boys emerged behind him. One had his hair pulled back into a spiky pony tail, looking like he'd just woken up from a nap, and the other was a little on the plump side which was highlighted by the fact that he was devouring a big bag of potato chips with gusto, all the while smiling pleasantly at nothing.

"We have a costumer," Kiba cheerfully announced, giddily taking Sakura by her shoulders and hugging her to him from behind her. "We need her measurements to find what size she is."

"Alright then. Miss, if you could please step forward. I'm Shino, by the way; those two are Shikamaru and Choji. Please call on us if you need assistance."

"Um…" Sakura said, unsure. A guy was going to take her measurements? She was so not comfortable with that. The one name Shikamaru, who was the one with the lazy persona and spiky hair in a ponytail, seemed to sense her discomfort and sighed quietly before opening a changing room and ushering her in. "You can measure yourself if you're not comfortable with us doing it. However, there are a few things he'll have to measure himself since doing it by yourself can result in inaccurate results. Is that alright?"

"Yeah, that's fine. Thank you, Shikamaru-san," Sakura sighed, relieved as he walked into the changing room. Talk about awkward. The boy nodded, and Shino stepped forward to hand her the tape.

"You can measure the circumference of your torso – that's chest, hips and waist – and I'll measure your legs, back, height, and arms. Okay?" She nodded. "Good." He handed her a small writing pad and a pen so she could write down her measurements before closing the door and letting her have her privacy.

Sakura couldn't say she'd ever experienced something so formal except when her mother had a dress made for her for some wedding or other, but she supposed that it was necessary. As quickly as she could, she took the three measurements Shino had told her and wrote them down on the pad. Once she was done, Shino took the tape measure from her and started measuring the rest of her body with a professional air about him. He measured the length of her arms and legs as well as their circumference, he measured the length of her back and the width of her shoulders, he measured how tall she was and the circumference of her wrists; all the while Sakura didn't feel awkward because Shino seemed so focused on what was solely business. He had no idea how much that helped her cope with the fact that a teen male was taking her body measurements, even if said measurements were just innocent in their nature.

Once Shino was done measuring and writing down the numbers on the little pad, he ripped off the page and handed it to Kiba, who had patiently been waiting off to the side. "She's a small," Shino said, and with one final nod in her direction, he turned and disappeared back into the backroom he had first emerged from, Shikamaru following him in with a slouched posture.

"You're quite well-proportioned," Kiba said as he looked at the paper. Sakura blushed, not expecting him to say such a thing. Kiba, upon noticing this, threw back his head and laughed heartily. "Oh, you're just so innocent it's adorable!" After blushing a darker shade of red and glaring half-heartedly at him, Sakura was finally able to get Kiba into finding the costume he had promised her, but not before he sent a wink her way.

"Excuse his behaviour," Choji, the one who had been eating his potato chips all the while the proceedings had taken place, said. "He's just a bit of a flirt and no girl has come into the store for a long time."

"Why?" Sakura asked. She noticed for the first time, now that the others were gone, that his hair was orange like Pein's but a lighter shade, held back by a navy bandana with two holes on the side. Like Kiba, his cheeks were painted, but unlike the wolf-like teen, Choji had swirls instead of triangles. He shrugged.

"Beats me, but my guess is that the place is a little intimidating for most. I know I was when I first started working here."

"Hm, I can imagine." Sakura sat on a chair by the changing rooms, and Choji followed her, sitting on a chair across from her. "Say, Choji," she said, more to make conversation than anything, "I hope you don't mind me asking, but what exactly is your position here? Kiba seems to stock the shelves, Shino takes measurements, and Shikamaru has the keys to the changing rooms. What do you do?"

Choji chuckled good naturedly as he popped another chip in his mouth. After he swallowed, he answered, "I provide refreshments. Costumers, when they appear, tend to spend a long time here so I make sure they have drinks and snacks. Which reminds me – is there anything I can get you? We have pretty much anything you can imagine."

Sakura thought for a moment. "I think some water would be fine. Maybe if I stay a little longer I'll get something else, if that's okay."

"That's perfectly fine. I'll be back in a jiffy!" And with that, the plump boy stood up and disappeared behind the black curtain he and the others had emerged from, carrying his bag of potato chips with him. Sakura smiled at his back. He was such a sweet person, and the potato chips made him cute.

A few seconds later, Kiba came back jogging with what Sakura could only assume was the costume he went to fetch in his hands. She was mildly surprised. It hadn't taken him long to find it. Even if he was a worker, she was sure anyone would find it difficult to find their way around so easily unless he lived here. Which, of course, was unlikely unless you were Pein, in which case he probably lived in the store like so many store owners she knew.

"Found your costume, cutie!" Kiba happily called out as he jogged up to her, pulling her off her seat with a wolfish grin plastered on his face. "Come on now, you gotta try it on!"

"Alright, alright!" Sakura laughed as she was pushed into the changing room Shikamaru had opened for her. "You sure seem excited for a costume."

"It's not just a costume. It is _the_ costume! Here, try it on," he said, hanging the garments behind the door. "I'll be waiting right outside if you need anything."

Sakura nodded and closed the door, looking at the unknown garments for a second before changing into them. When she stepped out of the changing room, Kiba was indeed waiting for her on one of the chairs, absent-mindedly petting a small stuffed puppy. Upon seeing her, he jumped up, setting the toy aside on the chair he vacated.

"Wow, that suits you better than I imagined," he grinned.

She grinned back. "I'd say. Little Red Riding Hood, huh? Not bad, my friend. Not bad at all." Her costume consisted of knee-high white stockings along with a wench's outfit made up of a white scoop-necked camisole with baby doll bell sleeves, a forest-green corset with black lace, and the puffy red skirt was cropped so the hem was just above her knees. And, of course, the famous red hood tried about her shoulders and flowing freely down her back past her hips. "I just need my bag of goodies and a wolf to complete the look."

"Waaay ahead of you, babe," Kiba said, picking up a basket from the floor by his seat. "Here're are your goodies."

"My, you sure think of everything. Thanks," Sakura smiled as she accepted the basket.

"And I even got you a wolf! Wanna see `im?"

"Wasn't that puppy it?" she asked, gesturing towards the stuffed animal he had been holding. Kiba rolled his eyes, as if it was an all-too common question.

"No way. That's just a pup. What you need is a _real_ wolf! You ready to meet him?"

Her eyes sparkled, thinking it was another, if bigger and more wolf-like, stuffed animal. "Yes, please!"

He chuckled, and the sound sent shivers down her spine. It sounded so… teasing, so deep. What the heck?

"Close your eyes, then. I wanna surprise you, okay?" Sakura hesitated for a moment, suspicious, before complying. She heard quiet shuffles of cloth murmur a few feet away from her, so she guessed that was Kiba getting her wolf. But when he gave her the okay to open her eyes, she was way beyond unprepared for what she saw.

"I'm your wolf, cutie!" Kiba, clad in a devilishly handsome wolf get-up, said as he slowly walked – more like stalked – up to her. "Please take care of me, ne?" he purred as he leaned closer.

His ears had disappeared underneath his messy hair, with fake grey clip-on's sitting atop his head. His narrow eyes had just become narrower, and darker, with his longer-than normal fangs standing out even more for some unknown reason. He had a leather jacket with grey faux fur lining around the neck and covering the zipper that ran down the middle of the jacket, and furry grey forearm protectors on his arms. His pants were very similar, being black as night with grey fur along the hems and running up the sides of his legs. To complete the look, he had a grey wolf tail swishing behind him contentedly.

Hold on a second. Back up, back up.

His tail was _swishing? _

Sakura stared, half awed and half fascinated at Kiba's tail as it moved this way and that lazily. "Okay, that is cool. How do you get it to move?" she asked.

He grinned, his sharp canines making his smile more feral. "I'm quite pleased right now, so it moves. While I can control it at will, most of the time it just does its own thing depending on how I'm feeling. Would you like to touch it?" She nodded and he turned sideways so she could reach for it. The fur felt so _real_.

She was caught off guard as Shikamaru abruptly crashed out of the staff room, landing on one of the couches. Startled, Sakura accidentally pulled on Kiba's tail, and he yelped.

Sakura immediately let go on reflex, but before her mind could comprehend what just happened, Shino came flying out of the staff room much like Shikamaru, who was unfortunate enough to be his cushioning mat.

"And that, Shino," Shikamaru groaned as he pushed the other boy off of him, "is why when Choji insists on doing something relating to food or drink, _you let him be_."

"Duly noted," Shino answered in a wheezy voice.

"Oh my gosh! Are you guys okay?" Sakura worriedly asked as she hurried over to them. "What happened?"

"Choji happened, that's what," Shikamaru answered as he sat up with painstakingly slowness.

"Huh?"

Before any of the males could answer her, a loud roar echoed throughout the place, causing shelves to shiver in place but somehow remain standing. Sakura thought for a split second that an earthquake had hit them before she realized that the roar was coming from the mysterious staff room.

"WHEN I SAY THAT I'LL BE THE ONE TAKING SAKURA HER DRINK, IT MEANS THAT _I'LL_ BE TAKING SAKURA HER DRINK!"

Sakura gaped, standing dumbfounded at the entrance of the staff room. "I-is that Choji?" she gasped.

Shino, who was now standing beside her, nodded. "I offered to bring you your glass of water and he insisted to be the one to do it."

Shikamaru, who was now also standing, scoffed. "Unfortunately, you can't take 'no' for an answer and kept insisting on taking the water, which got Choji mad."

Sakura turned her head to give him a bewildered look, when she noticed for the first time that the boys' outfits had completely changed from what they were wearing previously. Shikamaru was covered in wraps from head to toe, his eyes and lips peering out from between the spaces of the bandages wrapped around his face. His calculating, deceptively lazy eyes held wisdom millennia old, seeming slightly (but not completely) out of place with his youthful face. He looked freshly mummified.

Shino was no longer wearing his white turtleneck, but instead had put on a dark brown suit with smooth pads covering his chest like armour. His head now had a set of antennae sprouting from his hair, his sunglasses seemed to gleam in the light, and on his back he had a set of exquisitely realistic brown moth wings to scale.

"How did you guys change so fast?" she asked in awe, momentarily forgetting about the terror in the staff room.

The boys, including Kiba, shot each other knowing looks, not knowing how to answer her. But before anything could be said, Choji calmly walked out of the staff room, a dainty cup of water on a silver tray in hand.

"Here you go, Sakura-san," he said, smiling pleasantly at her as he offered her the glass. "Sorry if I took long. I just like everything to be perfect."

Sakura cautiously accepted the water and sipped at it as she eyes the seemingly calm Choji. He, too, had changed outfits in record time. He was dressed like a chef, with the white uniform and tall white hat, his belt holding an assortment of cooking tools like a handyman. She peered closer at him. He looked familiar, somehow. Heck, now that she thought about it, they all did. But how? She could've sworn she'd never met them before.

"Thank you, Choji," she said after she'd drank her water, choosing to keep her thoughts to herself. "That was very refreshing."

"Oh, I'm glad, _mademoiselle_," the smiling teen said as he took the glass from her before taking her hand and kissing her knuckles.

"Hey! I saw her first! Get yer grimy hands offa her!" Kiba protested, jumping in front of Sakura and acting like a barrier between her and Choji. Choji glared at the wolf-boy.

"My hands are far from grimy, _garçon_," he hissed. "They are perfect so they can create perfect food!"

"Stop it with the stupid French! YOU'RE NOT FRENCH!"

"But my soul is, you mangy _chien!_"

"I'M NOT A DOG – I'M A WOLF, DAMN IT!"

"Okay, break it up!" Shikamaru said, stepping between the two. "Man, what a drag. Behave yourselves! We have a costumer, or have you forgotten?"

Both boys turned to look at Sakura, who was staring at them with worry – for herself. She was sure that at this pace they'd both go berserk. And frankly she had no desire to espouse de title of "casualty."

"Sakura -" Kiba began, but then yelped as he felt his tail being roughly yanked on. He pulled his tail out of his assailant's grasp and whipped around to glare at him, who turned out to be no other than Shino. "What did you do that for, man?"

"I was bored."

"What kind of shitty reason is that? Why, I'll show you bored, you discoloured butterfly-man!" Kiba growled, and the growl sounded as if it was coming from an actual wolf. Before Sakura's eyes, the wolf ears atop Kiba's head flattened back and his tail stood straight out. Then, in the blink of an eye, he had lounged himself at Shino, who had disappeared into thin air. She gasped. What was going on? Where was Shino?

"Tsk. You know, Kiba, your temper really could use some work," Shino's voice said from above their heads. Sakura whipped up her head, startled to find Shino calmly standing on air with his arms crossed, his wings flapping serenely behind him.

Now Sakura didn't just gape. She outright stared, her mouth having come unhinged at seeing the quiet boy with the measuring tape _floating_.

"You think being up there all pretty like a mangled man-fairy can get you away from me?" Kiba growled, and was about to jump at the moth-man again when a giant hand slapped him onto the ground. "OOF!"

"Bad doggie!" Choji scolded, his hand returning to normal as a demented chuckle escaped his lips.

"Two against one? So that's how you wanna play? Well, I can play dirty too!" There was a poof of smoke and all of a sudden, there was another Kiba crouching on the – Sakura didn't fail to notice this – seat Kiba had left the puppy plushie on. The new Kiba jumped through the air to land beside the flattened one. "Get fatty over there," the original Kiba commanded the other.

Choji's eyes twitched as a psychopathic look took over his face. "WHAT DID YOU CALL ME?!"

"Shit," Shikamaru, who up to now had remained out of the whole fiasco, hissed. In the blink of an eye, he brought his hands together by his face, chanting a spell in an ancient language under his breath before some of his wraps shot out, elongating and growing in size before trapped the four others – the two Kibas, Shino and Choji – tightly, preventing any of them from moving.

"What is up with you guys?" Shikamaru demanded as he glared at his four coworkers. "Do you guys plan on bringing the whole damn place down? Troublesome morons." Not giving them the time to answer, he turned his head back to where Sakura was sitting. "Miss, I profusely apologize for – hey, where'd she go?"

Shikamaru's question caught the others' attention as they all began to look around.

"Miss Sakura?"

**~X~**

"Unbelievable!" Sakura muttered to herself as she ran up the stairs. While the four guys – monsters, paranormals, supernaturals, mythic, whatever it is you call them nowadays – were arguing she had quietly made her escape and ran towards the first thing she saw, which were the stairs. Now, as she slowed down to catch her breath, she thought back to what she had just witnessed. How where those guys real? A lycanthrope (the official name for a werewolf, or so she had learned from some book or other), a mummy, a moth-man, and an insane chef that was too much like Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde.

It wasn't until she was two steps from the second floor that she realized she had forgotten something. "Damn. I forgot my clothes in the changing room," she said as she gazed down at her outfit. Heck, she even had the basket in her hand. She shook her head, sighing. Unless she was willing to go home wearing a costume and leave her clothes behind, she was going to have to go back for them. The problem was that aside from the teen boys who belonged in fairy tale books, the store was a freaking maze. She'd have no choice but to ask someone else to guide her back.

"As long as they aren't as insane as those guys were," she muttered sourly to herself before giving a resigned sigh and walking into the Akatsuki shop's next floor level.

* * *

** Part IV: They're Alive!**

* * *

"Who the fuck are you?" were the words that greeted her the moment she stepped foot on the second floor. Sakura jumped, startled, whipping around to stare at a young man in his mid-twenties who was scowling at her. He had black pants and a long, black coat that went down to his knees, covered in Akatsuki's red cloud logo. His coat was opened all the way to his waist, revealing a pale, muscular chest with nothing but a strange pendant composed of a circle with an inverted triangle inside hanging in front of it.

Sakura looked at the face of the man. His hair was snowy-white and slicked back, his eyes a deep violet. And was that a tree-headed mega-sized scythe in his hand…?

"I said," the man growled again, "who the _fuck_ are you, bitch?"

Sakura's attention snapped back to the present. _Focus, Sakura, focus_, she chanted inside. "Um, I'm a costumer…?" she said, unsurely.

The man glared at her for a moment longer before abruptly turning and walking away from her, leaving a dumbfounded Sakura behind. What the hell?

The man, seeming to sense that she remained unmoving, let out a frustrated sigh. "Well, are you fucking coming or not?" he demanded. "Don't make me waste my goddamn time!"

"A-ah, sorry!" Sakura apologized as she hurried after him.

"The name's Hidan, and I'm in fucking charge of the second floor here at Akatsuki. I work with my partner, some shitty old motherfucking asshole named Kakuzu who doesn't give a shit about anything but money. And because of that, I'll be the fucking one to fucking assist you," the man, Hidan, rattled off moodily as he kept walking quickly, making Sakura almost jog to keep up with his long, purposeful strides.

"I'm, uh, Sakura," she said, more for the sake of having something to say to the rude man than for any other reason.

"Did I ask for your bloody name?" he snapped at her. "Fuck no, I didn't think so." He shook his head in disgust before he angrily muttered under his breath, "Fucking heathens, they're all a bunch of shitty goody-two-shoes ass wipes; Jashin damn them all, and with reason."

Sakura huffed, clearly offended, but decided not to say anything. After her experience on the first floor, she'd decided to be more wary of the workers of Akatsuki. Especially when she heard Hidan mention Jashin. She didn't know much about the god and his strange cult, but she knew it was very old, very powerful, and very bloodthirsty. She was definitely walking on thin ice here. The only thing stopping her from fleeing was that she was afraid Hidan, with his long legs, would catch her quickly and use his wicked-looking scythe (whose blades seem a tad bit too realistic) on her; not to mention she's get lost within half a minute of taking off.

As they made their way through the second floor, Sakura vaguely recalled Pein saying that aside from the main floor, each floor had a theme. From the horror-movie masks and sea of mostly-black costumes, she guessed she was on the "Dark Side" floor.

Hidan, much like Kiba had done, led them first thing to the changing rooms. Unlike Kiba, however, he didn't call out for his partner in a nice manner. Instead, he marched up to the staff room beside the changing rooms and loudly banged against the wall, the sound thundering and making Sakura cringe. "Hey! Kaku-fuck! Come out if that shitty cave, you motherfucker!" Hidan yelled into the staff room, "We have a costumer; get your shitty ass over here!"

"Will you shut the hell up, you incompetent asshole?" a gruff, deep voice said in annoyance as stomps were heard coming to the flap that served as a door to the staff room. A man wearing a mask that covered his face from the nose down and glaring hotly at Hidan appeared, followed by a very muscular body clad in ratty, loose garments. His body was covered in stitches, like his body was sown together like Frankenstein. She thought those were some realistic tattoos. But his most prominent feature were his eyes, like Pein's were like none she's ever seen before. His irises were a deep forest green, with no pupil in sight, and drowning in a black sclera sea.

She shivered. Those were the eyes of a demon, not of a man.

"Whatever, you greedy fucktard," Hidan scoffed before reaching behind him and pulling Sakura in front of him by the arm. "This is our costumer. Open her a room."

Kakuzu glared venomously at Hidan but nonetheless reached into his jacket pocket to pull out key and opening the changing room. "What costume do you want us to bring you?" he gruffly asked her as she stiffly walked past him into the room.

"I, er, don't know. I came to look."

Kakuzu "humph"d and Hidan groaned. Sakura flushed. Why did they make feel as if she'd just committed a crime?

"Then I'm guessing some of the young guys downstairs gave you that costume, huh?" Kakuzu asked again, pointing at her Little Red Riding Hood costume. She nodded. "We'll pick something for you, then, since apparently that's the only way you'll ever find something. If you don't like it, too bad; you can move on. If you do, great, good for you. But for every costume you make us bring you, you have to pay five bucks."

"_What!_"

"Oh, for the love of… Don't listen to the asshole, girl. He's a greedy fuck, so he'll charge you in any shitty way he can. But you don't have to pay him. In fact, _don't you fucking dare to pay this Jashin-forsaken heathen a cent_."

"Oh, fuck off, Hidan," Kakuzu growled. The albino man snorted and rettorded a "you bloody fucking wish."

"Er, okay," Sakura mumbled after a tense silence. "I'll just, you know, wait here. I'm a size small, by the way."

The two men nodded, not breaking eye contact, each promising the other payback for the insolence. And then they were gone, but not before gazing at her in a scrutinizing way.

"Please get something appropriate!" she called after them, unable to resist. She had the feeling that the guy's tastes were not exactly child-friendly.

Hidan's voice echoed back, "As if you could dress as anything sexy! You have the fucking body of a bloody child!" Sakura huffed, offended once again for what seemed the tenth time in ten minutes, before resigning herself to wait in the changing room.

When they came back just a minute later, each was carrying a piece of the costume they'd picked out. Hidan had some sort of black glittery disk in his hand while Kakuzu had the cloth of the costume draped over his shoulder. As soon as they reached her, they unceremoniously tossed the stuff to her and said, "Here, try this on."

Sakura did so quickly without argument.

When she stepped out, she was dressed like a gothic fairy. She had a blood-red corset with black lace and a black, tethered, poufy skirt. She had long baggy sleeves held to her arms by ribbons, and stripped socks with the same blood-red and black as her corset. It turned out that the "disk" Hidan was carrying were a pair of black wings with spider webs sewn into them. It was dark, yes, but also very alluring.

"So? Do we fucking deliver or what?" a very smug Hidan, who was leaning against one of the shelves with his arms crossed, said.

"It's, ah… very gothic. It's great," Sakura answered.

Kakuzu frowned, unconvinced. "I hear a 'but' coming on. Go on, _out_ with it."

"Um, I don't think my hair really matches… Like, it's a wonderful costume, but my hair sort of kills it. And wigs are a bit uncomfortable."

Hidan began swearing as he cursed the pickiness of and unappreciative abilities females. Kakuzu, meanwhile, masterfully ignored his partner and rubbed his chin, thinking.

"I think I got an idea to help you out there," he finally said, walking into a random aisle purposefully, reappearing only a few seconds later with black strands in his hands. Sakura stared at the strands curiously as Kakuzu motioned her forward.

"Sit," he commanded, pointing at one of the chairs. She obeyed, wary but seeing no way out of doing what he demanded without facing some sort of consequences. The stitched man stood behind her and fiddled with her hair, causing her to freeze up. Kakuzu ignored her tense posture as he worked, attaching the black strands to her hair.

Once he was done, he handed her a mirror wordlessly and stared at her, obviously waiting for her reaction. Sakura looked between him and the mirror before glancing at her reflection. She gasped noiselessly.

Black strands of fake hair danced and intertwined with her pink locks, making her hair seem darker, before the attached black locks passed her short cut and cascaded in waves over her shoulders, leaving her hair looking like it was making the transition from good girl to badass dark fairy as her pink hair darkened to blood red and finished in black. The way Kakuzu had placed the clip-on's made them seem like her real hair, making her look like she had a punk hairstyle which coordinated beautifully with the gothic fairy getup.

"Oh, that's… that's amazing!" She gushed, turning her head over and over again to see herself from different angles, and in every single one, the extensions looked as real as her pink locks. "You are a genius, Kakuzu!"

Kakuzu smirked, smug, while Hidan scowled. "Well, what about me, huh?" he demanded, marching right up to Sakura and replacing the mirror with his face quite brusquely so their noses where only inches apart. "I'm the one who picked the Jashin-forsaken costume!"

Sakura, not expecting the sudden assault, shrieked and swung her fist as hard as she could at Hidan's face, sending him flying. There was a loud crash as Hidan's body smashed against a shelf, and Sakura bolted to his side, horrified at what she'd just done.

"Oh my gosh, I'm so sorry! Are you alright?" she asked as she threw to the side the pile of costumes and props that had landed on the albino.

"Fuck! That's some punch you got there, girl!" Hidan's head groaned in pleasure from behind a fake sword with fake blood on the blade. Sakura followed the voice and removed the sword to find his eyes closed in ecstasy. But what shocked her, though, was that underneath the head there was no body. For a second she thought that it was buried under the remaining costumes and props, and so she began to dig through the merchandise, only to find the tile floor.

She looked at Hidan's head with horror across her features, only to find that his face had inexplicably become like that of an skeleton – his whole skin was white except for black circles and lines that outlined the bearings of a skull.

Sakura jumped back, startled and very perturbed as Hidan's head laughed maniacally. "You're a feisty one, bitch, that's for sure! Such delicious pain!" he laughed.

Sakura sent a bewildered look at Kakuzu who instead of looking as perturbed as her merely looked at Hidan's head with annoyance. He clicked his tongue. "Do you know how many times I've had to stitch his head back to his body?" he asked as he walked over and grabbed the still maniacally laughing head by the hair. "It's a pain, I tell you, a real pain in the ass."

"Y-you're gonna… _stitch_… his _head_ back to his _body_…?" Sakura asked in a quivering voice, not believing her ears.

Kakuzu, who had found Hidan's body under a pile of capes and hats, gave her a pointed look over his shoulder that made her feel as if she had just asked the most obvious question in the world. "Well, yes. Although he is a disgrace and just a shitty excuse of a co-worker, I still need him to do work. That's impossible if he doesn't have a body."

And then, before her eyes, he placed Hidan's head on a table, followed by the albino's body which slammed against the table loudly, and rolled up his sleeve to reveal his very stitched arm. As she watched in morbid fascination, the threads that made up the stitches she believed were tattoos began quivering before becoming three-dimensional and slithering out of his skin. Kakuzu pulled out a needle from his pocket as casually as one might take out a cell phone, and grabbed hold of the end of one of the threads.

Before Kakuzu had even slid the thread through the eye of the needle, Sakura was up on her feet and booked it out of there as fast as her feet could carry her.


	3. Chapter 3

** Part V: Artistic Insanity**

* * *

Sakura somehow ended up on the stairs once again, running up to the third floor.

"This isn't possible," she kept murmuring to herself as she caught her breath. "This isn't _fucking _possible."

"Hi there, yeah."

"_Son of a firecracker!_" Sakura jumped three feet in the air, landing behind a small counter with fancy masquerade masks.

"I'm sorry, yeah! I didn't mean to scare you, yeah!" a blonde youth, just a few years older than her said as he hurried over to her. He offered her his hand. "I'm Deidara, yeah. I work here on Akatsuki's third floor with my Danna, yeah."

Sakura looked suspiciously at his hand, not trusting anyone who worked in the shop any more. Because the last couple times she ignorantly did, she ended up meeting a werewolf, a moth-man, a mummy, the insane chef version of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde who somehow could control the size of his hand, a Frankenstein and a skeleton-painted zombie (sans the gross decomposing part). Who knew what other crap was hidden behind human disguises?

Deidara was smiling encouragingly at her, and as far as she could see, he was as normal as they came. Sure, his hair was long enough to fall over his shoulders and it was pulled back in half-up half-down style, with a single long lock covering his right eye. His one visible eye was sky blue, reminding Sakura of Naruto and Ino, who were also blonde and blue-eyed. Heck, he could pass for their handsome, older brother. If they were all related, that is. Which they weren't.

_Wait_, Sakura thought inwardly as she scrunched up her nose._ I did not just call this guy handsome._ She peeked up at his face once more and silently conceded that maybe he was. And he was nice, so far. His clothes reminded Sakura of the outfit of some ninja or samurai movie she saw years ago. In fact, Deidara was the spitting image of the lead character.

Shyly, she stood up and returned the smile. "I'm Sakura," she said as she took his extended hand. Deidara smiled and helped her to step over the counter.

"You're a costumer, yeah?" he asked pleasantly. She nodded.

"And since you're wearing that gothic fairy outfit, yeah, I'm guessing that you just came from Hidan's and Kakuzu's lair, correct?" Again, she nodded.

"And since you're up here instead of giving Kakuzu money for the costume, while wearing the costume, I'm guessing that those two scared you out of their territory, yeah?"

"Okay, are you a mind-reader or what?" She asked laughingly as he guided them through the aisles, still holding on to her hand.

"Nah, it's just happened enough times to be almost routine now, yeah," he joked, and she laughed. What a nice guy!

"So, Deidara-san, what theme is the third floor?" she asked him.

"The third floor focuses on the arts, yeah," he answered. "We have costumes of famous artists and their creations, be them paintings, sculptures, or movies and such, yeah."

"Oooh. So Marilyn Monroe, Lord of the Rings, Avatar, Phantom of the Opera, and Ghost Busters, kind of?" He nodded.

"Yeah, exactly like that," he said, grinning at the last part of her sentence.

"Very cool."

They walked pleasantly hand in hand as they made small conversation until they arrived at the now familiar changing rooms. What differentiated this third encounter with said rooms, though, was that aside from having a normal, decent guy lead her to them, he was the one with the key so he didn't call on his partner, whomever he was.

"Here you go, Miss Sakura," he said after he'd opened one changing room for her. "So, do you have any idea what you're looking for, yeah?"

She shook her head sadly. "`Fraid not, Deidara. I was hoping that coming here would give me ideas. So far, the costumes I've been given by the other staff to try on have been good, but I feel as if there's something better. Well, that and the fact that the staff scare the beejesus out of me."

He smiled understandingly. "Then, yeah, if you don't mind, can I pick out something for you, yeah?"

"That would be great, Deidara. Just, uh, please keep it decent. I'm not a big fan of very, how should I say this, _revealing, _styles."

"Neither am I, yeah. What costumes have you tried on so far?"

"Aside from this gothic fairy, I was also Little Red Riding Hood."

"Let me guess – Kiba?"

"You guess a lot, even if it's not technically guessing since you're always right."

He laughed at that. "Just been around with these guys for a long time, yeah," he said. "What's your size?"

"Small."

"I'll be right back, yeah."

Sakura waved him off as he disappeared when he turned a corner, and giggled as she sat on one of the cushioned seats. Deidara was so nice!

"Fancy meeting you here, doll."

"_Ginger Smurfs!_" Sakura shrieked as she jumped in surprise for the second time in ten minutes. However, instead of landing behind some random place like last time, she somehow ended up in the arms of the stranger who had spoken and who was standing behind the chair she was in; mimicking to perfection the princess carry Naruto had pulled off with her earlier.

"You know, most people just scream when they're surprised," the stranger drawled. "This is the first time I hear someone actually scream out nonsense."

"It's you!" Sakura exclaimed, pointing her finger right at the strangers face. The stranger happened to be none other than the red head she asked directions to earlier with Sasuke and Naruto.

"It's rude to point, little girl," the youth said, frowning at the finger that was shoved into his face. Sakura immediately retracted her finger, blushing.

"Sorry."

"Whatever," the redhead said and set her down on the seat she was previously on. "I am Sasori. Is anyone attending you?"

"Yeah, Deidara…" she said, trailing off as she saw his jaw clench.

"That blonde fool is attending you?" he asked in aggravation. "Good grief, what a mistake."

Before Sakura could question him, Deidara showed up with a costume draped over his arm.

"Found your costume – oh, hey Danna, yeah," Deidara greeted Sasori.

"Deidara," Sasori nodded at the blonde. "Did you pick out that costume for her?"

"Yep."

"Let me see it, lest you make her look ridiculous," Sasori demanded, snatching the costume from Deidara.

"Hey, yeah! I have a great eye for these things, yeah! If I didn't, I wouldn't work here!" Deidara protested as he tried to grab back the costume from Sasori, who, despite being slightly shorter, easily kept it away from his reach.

"Maybe you do, but after working together for so long I've still to see proof of its existence," Sasori said, bored as his golden eyes roamed over the costume choice. "Hmm. Not too bad, for once."

"My choices are always great, yeah!"

Sasori shoved Deidara away and pointedly ignored his protests as he handed Sakura the costume gallantly. "Here, this should suit you well enough."

Sakura accepted the costume, not before noticing that Sasori was dressed like a puppeteer when he was arguing with Deidara, and closed the door to her changing room so she could change.

The costume Deidara had picked out for her turned out to be none other than the outfit of a famous pop singer, Mary-Anna who was all the rage right now. It was quite easy to identify who the costume was since Mary-Anna had pretty much copyrighted the "punk baby girl" look, as Sakura and Ino called it. She had navy dark blue pants which one pant leg flowing down her leg while the other was cut off mid-thigh, with rips and holes spiralling on the side into a flower, revealing a polka-dot leg warmer and a black knee-guard. Her top consisted of a simple white V-necked shirt with circles of different sizes and shades of pink spread thought it, and a blazer that was cropped just above her waist with plenty of zippers and glittery studs. Secured in place by her left hip, a pair of silver chains dangled with her every step, causing the charms on them – a pattern made up of a silver spikes followed by a black skull with a pink sparkly bow – to jingle. Her wrists were covered in armbands and bracelets, and she had a black lace choker in place along with an earpiece with a small microphone pointing at her mouth around her head.

When she stepped out of the changing room, Deidara and Sasori smiled approvingly.

"You see, Sasori?" Deidara bragged as he skipped over to Sakura's side and slinging one arm over her shoulders. "I always pick out great costumes, yeah."

"Whatever, Deidara," Sasori shrugged. Sakura smiled at the two. So far, they were the most normal and pleasant out of all the workers she had met, and she quite liked the costume. It was simple, but easy to move in and more than appropriate.

"I really like this costume," she said.

Deidara beamed at her. "So you gonna get it?" She nodded, and Deidara laughed joyfully. "Oh yeah! Give me five, Sakura-chan!"

Sakura, finding it impossible to not get infected by his enthusiasm, complied and slapped her hand to his, smiling like a fool. After her first few encounters, everything was going great.

Until she felt something warm and wet cross her palm, that is.

Sakura froze, smile still in place as she looked at Deidara, who was still smiling happily at her while sticking out his tongue at Sasori, who looked like he couldn't care less. The only reason the blonde could smile at her and still have his tongue out at the redhead was because his face was smiling at her but he had his other hand extended towards Sasori, with a _tongue sticking out of his palm_.

Sakura's eye twitched, not really that all that shocked any more. But still. If Deidara had a tongue in one of his hands, then who says the other one can't have one too?

Slowly, she retracted her hand from Deidara's, feeling cold where her hand was wet. She looked closely at Deidara's hand which she had just high-fived, and saw a thin line run across his palm. Then, as she watched, the line opened to reveal a mouth, and a tongue poked out momentarily before going back in, leaving her staring at a grinning palm.

Sakura, instead of freaking out after everything she'd just seen and yelling to high heaven, instead screeched, "You licked me!"

Deidara and Sasori swivelled their attention to the enraged pinkette, surprise evident on their faces (although it was hard to tell with Sasori, who still had a poker face). Sasori narrowed his eyes and turned his attention to the blonde. "I thought you said you wouldn't do that anymore?"

"Eheh," Deidara chuckled nervously, placing his hands behind his back. "Oops."

Without a word, Sasori lifted his arms, his fingers spread, and Sakura immediately felt her limbs freeze in place. Sasori curled his fingers, and before Sakura knew it, her body moved of its own accord and flew across the room to land in the redhead's arms.

"It's obvious you can't control yourself, Deidara," Sasori said, resting his chin on Sakura's head as he shot the furious blonde an annoyed look. "Go, now. I'll take care of our dear costumer-chan."

"No way, yeah! She was my costumer first!"

"Not after that stunt you just pulled, no she isn't."

"I'll teach you a lesson, you stupid Danna!" Deidara's blue eyes darkened as he reached into a pouch Sakura hadn't noticed attached to his pants behind his back, and pulled out clay. She wondered what big threat clay was when Deidara began to mould the light brown substance into a bird with such speed she couldn't even see what his hands were doing. "Take this, yeah!"

And he threw the bird at them.

Sakura was tossed to the side, still feeling her limbs act of their own accordance, as Sasori fearlessly stood his ground. Whatever was controlling her body prevented her from crashing against a nearby shelf like she had caused Hidan to do. Sakura, thinking that the two artists had gone nuts at seeing a threat in a little clay bird, nearly had a heard attack when said little bird exploded into a big explosion that sent debris flying everywhere and caused the whole building to shake.

"Are you _trying_ to destroy the shop?!" Sasori's pissed voice hissed from somewhere inside the dust cloud.

"It wouldn't be the first time, yeah! We're all used to it – plus you deserved it!"

"Annoying pyro brat, you should respect your elders!"

"I'll respect you when you deserve it, yeah, puppet man!"

Ah, a puppet man and a fire demon. That explained so much.

"What about Sakura? You're gonna kill her, she's a normal human."

Sakura froze at that. She thought that these guys were insane, hopped that that was the only strange thing about them unlike the others, but if they were calling her a human… then that meant they weren't. The two continued to fight, but Sakura blocked out those sounds, Sasori's words resonating in her mind.

Why did she always attract the impossible romances?

Scratch that, at this stage there was no chance of even a flirty relationship.

Damn it all to hell.

Sakura felt what she knew to be some sort of invisible strings evaporate from her limbs, so she had full function of them once again. Cautiously, she got down on all fours and tried to inconspicuously crawl away from the fighting weirdoes. _A good costume is so not worth this_, she thought to herself.

A body smashed right in front of her, and she swallowed a scream. She peered over the body. It was none other than Sasori, with his shirt ripped in so many places it was pretty much worthless now since it seemed only slivers of it remained intact enough to cover the redhead. But what shocked Sakura the most was his body. His body was like that of a puppet's – mobile joints with screws and bolts, stiff limbs held together by the joints, and small creases of what seemed like compartments. All entirely made of some damn-hard wood.

He was a living puppet.

"You'll pay for that, brat," Sasori hissed as he stood up, completely unaware of Sakura at his side.

"As if, yeah!" Deidara shouted as he appeared, his shirt long gone. Sakura gaped. He had a mega mouth right in his chest, just slightly to the left. And that mega mouth was spitting out clay, which the blonde shaped into more explosives with his hands. "Sakura, yeah! Get out of the way! I'm gonna blow this puppet to smithereens, yeah!"

"You don't need to tell me twice," Sakura said and bolted, leaving the two to duke it out behind her.

* * *

** Part VI: Reality Crashes In**

* * *

Sakura, unsurprisingly, had made it to the fourth floor. It seemed that the only way to get out of the shop was to either stay on the main floor (which she didn't) or to pick a costume to buy (which she had yet to find). The only reason she came to this conclusion was because, obviously, if she'd stayed on the main floor she'd have a much easier time escaping, seeing how the exit was there. It also seemed like unless she actually paid for a costume, the workers of the shop wouldn't leave her alone.

And so, the pinkette could only hope that the people at the fourth floor were more tolerable than the previous ones. She gave up on hoping for normal; everyone here, she figured, was as far from normal as one could get, no matter what they initially looked like.

The fourth floor's theme was… elegant. Mainly historical, though. That was really the only word to describe it. The costumes Sakura saw were those of noblemen, knights and warriors, kings and queens, princes and princesses from different times periods from all over the world. Some peasant costumes were around, as well. And, somehow, every costume had a regal look that made Sakura feel as if she was in the presence of the most powerful people in the world. If those were just the costumes, she marvelled at the idea what having one on would do.

Unlike the other floors, no one popped out of thin air to assist her, for which she was grateful. She didn't think she could handle another weirdo or two so soon. So instead, she wandered into the shop, randomly picking her way as she admired the intricacy and sheer elegance of the costumes. These were very fine indeed. Now that she thought about it, all of the costumes she'd seen, the bottom floors included, were.

After wandering, fascinated, for a little longer, Sakura came across the infamous changing rooms. Cautiously, she looked around for signs of anyone, and when she saw no one, she stepped from behind the shelves and into the open space.

"Hello?" she called.

There was a beat of silence before her ears picked up the sound of clothes shuffling as someone made his way towards her from the staff room, which was in the same place beside the changing rooms as the others had been.

"Yes?" a quiet, polite voice called out as a tall, pale male with long raven-black hair tied at the nape of his neck and red eyes lifted the curtain of the staff room and peered stoically at her. Sakura immediately had a flashback of him, lasting all of but a second, but it was enough. She knew she had met him before, she knew him. But she couldn't remember from where, even though she felt as if she should know.

"I'm looking for a costume. Do you think you could help me?" she asked, pushing the feeling and the memory aside. She had to get a costume if she wanted to get out of the shop.

"Aa," she black-haired man, who was in his early twenties, said with a small nod of his head. "Of course. Have you picked something specific in mind?"

"I haven't, but I was looking around and I thought that a princess costume would be great," she said, truthfully. After all, how unsafe could a princess possibly be, especially compared to the terrors the other costumes had bestowed upon her? But then again, the other costumes were also innocent enough…

He nodded.

"We have many," the man replied. "Have you picked your favourites?"

Sakura nervously twiddled her fingers. Obviously, she hadn't, because until now everyone had picked out her costumes for her. It only occurred to her how inappropriate that was, considering all of the workers she had met were guys, and easily half were older than her.

"Um, I… well, no," she admitted sheepishly, a faint blush coming to life on her cheeks.

The quiet stranger came closer to her and slightly tilted his head to the side, studying her. She shifted uncomfortably under his gaze. It was slightly unnerving to be looked at with such unusual eyes.

Finally, the young man blinked and spoke. "Would you like me to go see if I can find something for you, then?" Sakura blushed harder.

"If it wouldn't be too much trouble, that would be greatly appreciated."

"Not at all. Please, make yourself comfortable. I will be back soon. Size?"

"Small." He nodded once before walking off, his aura being one of power, control and nobility that Sakura for a second imagined that he was royalty himself. He fit so well with the place.

While she waited, Sakura took the opportunity to actually study the interior of the shop. She was in such a rush before that she hadn't properly taken in the costumes. She now realized how foolish that was. The costumes there were absolutely exquisite; no matter if it was for a male or a female. The material for all the costumes had obviously been chosen with care for maximum effect, with superb details painstakingly sewn to create vivid realism from the largest of designs to the tiniest of dots. Sakura was sure she's never seen anything as marvellous or awe-inspiring as the costumes. Sure, she'd seen plenty of movies with amazing costumes, but there was something about the ones here that made her feel as if she was seeing the actual dress made in its respective time period, not a modern copy of what once was.

So engrossed was she in studying a mannequin dressed as Marie Antoinette, with the hair, jewellery and all, that she nearly had a heart attack when a heavy hand landed on her shoulder. "_Reeses Pieces!_" she shrieked, swinging her fist as she jumped around before she could think about what she was doing.

To her immense surprise and relief, she had missed punching the lights out of the attendant, who'd returned with her costume hanging delicately on his arm.

Sakura flushed red as the man looked nonchalantly at her. Good grief, what kind of woman was she? Just a little more to the right and she would have nailed him right in the nose! She inwardly sighed, depressed. Maybe Naruto and Sasuke, idiots that they were, were on to something after all…

Her crestfallen thoughts ceased as she felt cold fingers tilt her chin up. Startled at the oddly intimate contact, Sakura allowed the hand to move her head up so she was looking straight into the red eyes of the attendant. "Is something wrong, Miss?"

"Wrong? N-nothing! Well, aside from the fact that I'm apparently very mentally unstable, because I've been throwing punches left, right and center since I came into this place at every little thing that happens, and, good god, I was _this close_ to breaking your nose even though you've been so helpful and –"

"That's alright."

"– I feel so bad because I…" Sakura stopped ranting then, her surprise at his interruption evident. "Pardon?"

"It's my fault, not yours. I noticed you were quite concentrated on the costume you were looking at, yet I disturbed you quite suddenly. It's perfectly understandable that I'd startle you. If anything, I likely deserved that punch." Sakura was amazed. Did this guy just shoulder all the blame onto himself? For _her_?

Not knowing quite what else to say, she blushed even more furiously and looked down at the floor; unable to meet his eyes. "T-thank you," you murmured.

"Hn."

At that sound, her eyes snapped open and she looked around, expecting to find her raven-haired friend around. When she didn't, she glanced confusedly at the attendant. He merely offered her a small, serene smile, and offered her his free arm. "Please, do not worry about the incident. I take full blame, as I should, for it was I who caused you to react like you did." When Sakura didn't immediately take his arm, he smiled softly at her again, letting his perpetually stoic gaze warm up the slightest bit. Sakura, caught in his beautiful, terrifying eyes, suddenly felt all the uneasiness and apprehension leave her body. More relaxed now, she slowly nodded and took the attendant's arm like it was the most natural thing in the world.

"My name is Itachi," the attendant said gallantly as he guided them towards the changing rooms, never breaking eye contact with her. "Allow me to take care of you and your needs here."

"Take care of my needs…" Sakura repeated softly, as if in a daze. Wasn't that wonderful… to have such a handsome, polite man take care of her…

Wordlessly, Itachi led her into her changing room with a masterful grace, placing the costume he'd chosen for her in her hands. "I do so hope you like this costume. I believe it is most becoming for such a lovely lady as yourself."

A lovely lady…? Did this aristocratic man just call her a lovely lady…? How romantic. Still dazed, she slowly nodded. How nice. How very, very wonderful…

A cold palm cupped her cheek. "Ah," Itachi sighed in satisfaction. "What a lovely blush. Not many people wear their blush as nicely as you do." His hand trailed down her cheek, tracing her jaw line and down her slender neck to rest his cold fingers against the beating pulse there. His eyes dilated, and a handful of heartbeats passed before his hand retreated and he bowed, still with the grace of a cat. "I shall be awaiting outside should you need anything, princess."

Sakura could only stare at the door as it softly clicked closed behind him.

Slowly, her wits came back about her. The dazed feeling she'd had slowly receded, and her surroundings became something to be aware of again. She blinked; once, twice; then more rapidly as she oriented herself. Rubbing her eyes as if she had just woken up from a deep slumber, she wondered what exactly had happened. While she was embarrassed at the odd intimacy Itachi had made her feel with his cordial words and fleeting touches, she was also suspicious at what had made him have such an impact on her.

After all, she'd learned by now that this shop was run by monsters. The question now was, what type of monster Itachi was and just exactly did that mean for _her_?

Deciding that for the time being all she could do was change costumes, she dutifully did so, all the while wracking her brain as she tried to figure out just what exactly the mysterious, noble-like attendant was. However, every time she thought she had it, the thought escaped just out of her reach. By the time she stepped out of the changing room in her new outfit, Sakura was sure that Itachi had something to do with that fact.

True to his word, Itachi was waiting for her. He was standing at attention just a few feet away, glancing somewhere between the dark aisles of the shop. Just as she stepped forward to call out to him, he turned his head and looked at her. It took all her will power just then not to shiver at his sight. He was handsome indeed, almost sinfully so, but what gripped her heart with an instant of panic was the fact that he was half-hidden in shadow, and when he turned to look at her, his red eyes glowed vividly.

"Is the costume to your liking, princess?" he asked politely. Sakura looked down at her outfit.

It was amazing. She was obviously a princess, but she wasn't just any ol' princess. She was a warrior princess – hell, she was the Amazon Princess. Was she pretty? Nope. She was damn gorgeous. Could she kick ass? Hell yes.

Her outfit consisted of a one-shouldered, tight-fitting shirt made of what seemed to be very short caramel-coloured fur. Her entire right arm was covered in lightweight red armour with golden flower petals painted on, from a flashy shoulder cover right down to her fingers. Her left arm was bare save for thick golden armband in the shape of a flower vine twisting its way around her upper arm; each tiny flower in the vine holding a blood-red ruby in its center. A fingerless glove that reached just past her wrist consisting of the same caramel-fur material as her shirt, with red armour around the knuckles, protected her left hand from any attacks and permitted her to fight hand to hand. Chest plates from the same red armour protected her chest, leaving the caramel material of her shirt to cover her stomach and show off her curves. Dark brown shorts covered her legs behind what could only be described a ripped leather mini skirt, held up by golden chains, which had slits on the sides so she could access the knives strapped securely around her thighs in case the broadsword in her hand wasn't enough. Furry boots with shin guards of the same armour protected her lower legs. Finally, a simple gold tiara that looked like it was made of twisting vines, encrusted with pearls and more rubies, rested between her forehead and hairline to reveal her princess status as if all the gold and rubies didn't do the job already.

Man, she'd never felt so badass in her life. Even Xena couldn't manage to pull this off. And with a little make-up magic, she could make herself some awesome battle scars; maybe even make it so her hair was wild and free like she just stepped off the battlefield. Oh yeah.

"I love it!" she beamed at him. "I've never seen something so cool!"

He smiled faintly at her as he approached. "I'm glad to hear it."

"While I think this is the costume that'll put everything else to shame, I just have to ask: why did you pick this one?" Sakura asked him. "I mean, at first glance all you see are the traditional royalty and noblesse costumes with the bows, and lace, and huge sparkly crowns. Like something straight from a fairytale."

"You wish to know why I picked this particular not-so 'fairytale-like' costume for you?"

"Um, yeah."

Itachi was silent for a moment before he answered. "While I do believe that something like that would look good on you, you strike as a more spirited kind."

"More spirited?"

He nodded. "Yes. You're more lively. You've got…_spunk_." His lips curled in amusement as he said that. "I thought that you'd want something more fitting to your personality than a dainty little princess who only ever did as she was told, held tea parties, and waited for a prince to come get her."

"Wow," she murmured, surprised. "You got me spot on. Or so I like to think, anyway. How'd you figure out so much about me in such a short time?"

He let out a secretive smile, but didn't answer her. Instead, he asked, "So, will that be cash or plastic?"

"Cash, please!" Sakura chirped before turning around to walk into the changing room so she wouldn't ruin her new costume walking around. Itachi nodded and left to prepare the cash register. However, clumsiness was something Sakura carried with her like barnacles on a whale, and she walked right smack into the door that had closed behind her.

"Owie," she whimpered as she rubbed her abused nose, glaring at the door. _Damn thing_, she thought_, it caused me to bite my lip_. Sure enough, she could taste blood on her lip, which she quickly licked away. Shaking her head at her small misfortune, Sakura reached for the doorknob and only managed to open the door a few inches before a sudden force caused it to slam it shut.

Sakura whirled around, finding that it was a huge, muscled guy behind her who had reached over her head and slammed the door. Her heart thudded wildly in her ribcage, her scream caught in her throat as she stared, bewildered, at the _blue_ man with gill tattoos (or were they?) on his cheeks who fixed his stare on her with black, beady eyes.

_Danger! Danger! _A little voice inside of her screamed. _Abort mission, I repeat, abort mission! Get out of there RIGHT NOW!_

"Hello there," the hulking blue man greeted her quietly in a deep, husky voice. "What's a pretty little thing like you doing all alone here?"

Sakura couldn't form the words. All she could manage to do was gape like a fish out of water. The strange man seemed to be amused at this.

"Do I scare you, princess?" he murmured as he leaned back, giving her some room though not much. "Don't worry. I don't bite. Much." A deep chuckle was formed at his own words, revealing rows of sharp, pointy teeth. Sakura couldn't breathe.

"Now then, why don't you let me assist you? That is, after all, my job." The man continued to circle her, reminding her faintly of a shark stalking his prey. His unnerving gaze trailed right back to her lips and his eyes began to glaze over. He lifted a large, meaty hand, almost as if he were to caress her face. "I'm sure I can be of some use."

"Kisame."

The man froze, but his eyes never left her mouth. Sakura sucked in a sharp breath.

"What are you doing, Kisame?" Itachi asked with a cold voice as he stepped out of the shadows.

"Nothing to worry about, Itachi," the man, Kisame, answered, his hand slowly lowering but he didn't turn around. "I was merely making sure our dear costumer was being taken care of."

"There is no need. I'm assisting her, as you can see." Kisame hummed nonchalantly, finally turning to face his co-worker though it seemed like the simple action required superhuman effort on his part.

"Is that so." Kisame and Itachi shared a look that was impossible to decipher; it was obvious there was a silent conversation being conveyed with just their eyes. While Sakura might have been a little curious at what the two were saying to each other that caused the tension in the room, which had skyrocketed, to subside, she figured that it was probably better she didn't know. Finally, Kisame stepped away, allowing her space bubble to expand to a comfortable level. Quietly, she let out the breath she'd been holding.

Wordlessly, Itachi raised his arm to offer her a hand so as to escort her. Sakura didn't know what to make of the gesture. She still had the costume on; how would she pay for it while wearing it? After some hesitation, she did as he wished and hurried over to his side, grasping his extended hand. She figured that there had to be a reason for him to wish to whisk her away. Not that she was complaining. The other assistant, Kisame, hadn't done anything (yet), but the sudden tension due to his arrival was enough warning for her to steer clear of him.

"Let us be off," Itachi murmured softly to her. Then to Kisame, "Thank you for checking in on our costumer, Kisame." Kisame nodded, though his eyes had once more found their way to her mouth. After a final warning look from Itachi, the raven-headed attendant led Sakura away through an aisle.

After walking far enough, and through various corners such that she could no longer see the blue giant, Sakura turned towards Itachi, whose cold hand firmly gripped hers. "Where are we going?" she asked.

Itachi glanced at her out of the corner of his eye, but said nothing and returned his attention forward. The pink-haired girl frowned. This cold Itachi was not like the Itachi she'd pleasantly chatted with only a few minutes ago. He seemed more… detached. The question now was, why?

"Itachi?"

Before her mind even begin to could catch up with what happened next, Sakura found herself shoved against one of the shelves, Itachi pressing up against her as his cold hands holding her shoulders carefully but in an iron grip, the only gentle thing about his actions. The next thing she knew, he pressed his face against her throat, his nose running down the length of her neck as he deeply inhaled. Was he… _smelling_ her?

A deeply satisfied groan echoed in her ears. "Your scent… it's driving me crazy…" he whispered, his lips brushing against her beating pulse on the side of her neck. Sakura paled. Now that Itachi wasn't looking at her, it finally hit her what she had been trying to figure out back in the changing room. It all made sense now. Red, hypnotizing eyes with the power to daze; the silent way he walked, the ancient grace he carried himself with, his special attention to detail concerning her blush (which was a _blood rush_ to her face), why he immediately rushed back the moment she'd cut her lip.

All of a sudden, she knew what he was.

A vampire.

_Oh, shit._

And now that adrenaline had her mind in over-drive, she quickly figured out what Kisame was. Blue skin, beady black eyes, gills, impossibly numerous and sharp teeth, appearing out of nowhere when her lip bled, why he circled her just like a shark did when closing in on his prey…

He was a shark-man. And what led him to her was her blood. The same blood that the man pining her to the shelf had his attention zeroed in on.

_Oh, double shit._

Itachi moved his cold hands – _cold because they are freakin' undead,_ her mind screamed – to gently cradle her face. In what felt like slow motion, Itachi leaned his face towards hers, and for a ridiculous split second, she felt like he was about to kiss her. When reality came crashing in, she squeezed her eyes shut, waiting for the inevitable to happen.

What happened next wasn't what she was expecting. Mere centimetres before the vampire Itachi had touched her lips with his, ready to sample the red nectar flowing from her lower lip, she abruptly felt herself swung across the hall. The sudden whiplash left her head reeling, the only concrete thought her brain was capable of forming being _WTF?!_

It took her a minute to orient herself, and when she did, the first things she noticed were:

the only reason she hadn't crashed against anything or lay slumped on the floor like she was sure she would have been was because Itachi, the Itachi who was a vampire and was a second away from drinking her blood through a kiss, was holding her up, and

they weren't alone – and it wasn't Kisame with them this time.

Sakura followed Itachi's line of sight to glance at where they'd just been standing (or about to be devoured in the most delicious way possible, depending on the perspective. Take your pick). There, a pale boy with long, flowing brown hair and moon-coloured eyes dressed like some far-East nobility from a long ago era, stood with an unimpressed look on his face. Sakura had no problem identifying just what this youth was.

Aside from the fact that he was slightly glowing in the poor light, the fact that he was floating a foot from the floor and was the slightest bit see-through, it was majorly obvious that this new guy was a ghost.

"Neji," Itachi spoke in a dry tone, his displeasure evident. "What do you think you're doing?"

"That's what I should be asking you, Itachi," the ghost, Neji, huffed as he glided over to them. "You know better than to do what you were about to."

"Perhaps. But really, garlic water? Where do you even get such foul concoction?" It was then that Sakura noticed a bucket lying on its side where they'd just been standing, a small puddle underneath it, with a faint odour coming from it.

"I always keep an arsenal at the ready," Neji answered just as dryly. "Just for cases like these."

"Holy water would have done the trick. All you've done now is stank up the place," Itachi sneered as his lips twisted in disgust, revealing a pair of pearly white fangs. "Foolish poltergeist…"

Ah, so Neji wasn't just a ghost. He was a poltergeist too! Oh, goody!

"Ah…" Sakura wheezed. She was at her limit. She was going to go insane. No, she was past that – she was having a mental breakdown.

The two monsters snapped their attention to her and, finally realizing that this ambient was not a good environment for a normal human girl, quickly let their spat go for another time. Neji floated closer, his hard eyes studying her pale face.

"Crap, Itachi, did you actually manage to bite her? Was I too late?" he hissed, throwing the vampire a dirty look.

"I assure you I never meant to bite her; I merely wanted to sample what was already offered," Itachi replied back evenly. "And I assure you that no, I did not even manage to do that, no thanks to you." Neji ignored him.

"Hey, girl," he called to her. She didn't answer; in fact, her eyes started to roll back.

Neji was having none of that.

With an aggravated huff, he reached out with his hand and pinched her nose, effectively blocking all air passage. Her eyes immediately snapped open before she gasped loudly, coughing like a fish just thrown onto dry land.

"I really don't think that's the appropriate way to get her attention," Itachi mused.

"It worked, didn't it? She no longer looks like she's about to pass out."

"That's because she looks like she's about to throttle you into next week, if it weren't for the fact that you're already dead!" Sakura screeched, glaring heatedly at the ghost. Good grief, how long has he been dead for that he can't even remember that when a person looks like they're about to pass out, one should give them air – not cut off their air source! "And aren't you a ghost, anyway? How did you manage to touch me without going through my body?"

Neji rolled his eyes as he floated away. "Obviously, you're perfectly fine if you can threaten a monster – without a physical body, may I add – with bodily harm. And I was able to touch you because I'm a poltergeist. Keep with the program."

Sakura stuck her tongue out at him.

"How childish."

"Enough," Itachi interjected. "Seeing as there is nothing for us to do, now that Princess here has chosen her costume, we should go to the cash register to ring in her purchase."

"Hmph. Do as you like," Neji scoffed, shrugging his shoulders indifferently. "Just be warned, Uchiha. If you try to pull anything else, know that I'll be keeping my eye on you. And that that garlic water wasn't the only thing up my sleeve."

Itachi made a dismissive motion with his hand, and the ghost shot him a final, narrowed look before fading away. Sakura wondered just how safe she really was within a vampire's arms. Unconsciously, she bit her lip.

"Don't."

Her eyes snapped up to meet red ones. Confusion marred her features. He sighed. "Don't bite your lip. It's just begun coagulating; if you bite it, it will start bleeding again."

"O-oh." Sakura immediately released her lip, absentmindedly licking small cut. She knew that was probably the last thing she should be doing, but she couldn't help herself. It was uncomfortable. Deciding to not push her luck, she forced herself to stop and wiped her mouth with the back of her hand.

The next thing she knew, Itachi had grabbed her by the shoulders and shoved her behind him, a frown in place. Sakura peeked over his shoulder to see what he was frowning at, and saw it was Kisame who was heading their way. After how their last meeting went, she wasn't too keen on meeting him again. She stepped closer to Itachi, holding on to his shirt.

"Hey, Itachi!" the blue shark-man greeted casually, shooting the duo a toothy grin. "Hi princess."

"What is it, Kisame?" Itachi asked.

"I just came over to apologize to the costumer," Kisame explained, looking somewhat abashed as he glanced at the green eyes peeking at him over his co-worker's shoulder. "I didn't mean for our meeting to get all tense and creepy and stuff. Just, you know, blood kick starts the predator in me." When he saw Sakura's wide-eyed stare, he hurriedly added, "But I promise it's under control now. It just took me surprise, `s all."

Itachi stared evenly at him, as if assessing the truth of his words. Deciding that all was indeed well, he stepped to the side, revealing Sakura who stubbornly maintained a firm grip on his shirt. Slowly, so as to not startle her, Kisame stretched out a hand.

"So we good? I really am sorry," he said. Sakura tilted her head to the side and eyed his offered hand. She felt no blood thirst or killing intent this time around, and Kisame seemed eager enough to make amends. Plus, Itachi, with his freaky vampire powers, had cleared him. Seeing nothing wrong with giving a second chance, she stepped forward and took the blue man's hand, allowing his much larger one to engulf hers.

"Yeah, we're good. I'm Sakura."

"Kisame," he answered, grinning at her and bowing to kiss her hand. But before his lips touched her skin, he froze. Sakura, not quite knowing what to do, only stared at him in confusion. Itachi's eyes narrowed as he watched the whole interaction. Something was wrong, he could feel it.

A heartbeat later, Kisame finished his princely greeting, kissing her knuckles. Sakura blushed lightly, and started pulling back her hand but Kisame's blue one didn't let her. As Sakura and Itachi watched, Kisame kissed her hand again, over and over again, like he couldn't stop. Embarrassed beyond belief, Sakura blushed all the way to her pink roots, trying to shake off the shark-man who was reminding her more and more of Gomez from _The Adams Family_ after Morticia spoke French. Just as he was about to ask for Itachi to help her, Kisame attached his lips to her skin and nibbled the spot just above her knuckles.

Faster than a flash, Itachi had forcefully separated them, once again standing between Sakura and Kisame. Bewildered, Sakura glanced between them, trying to discern what had made Kisame act so. Her answer was indirectly given when she saw Kisame lick his lips blissfully, as if he'd just been given a delicious treat. His eyes were more beast-like, like when she first met him at the changing rooms. Didn't he say he had his predator side under control?

Kisame glanced at her then, looking almost enamoured. "That was fantastic, princess. You have such a nice taste." Sakura blushed once again, cradling her abused hand to her chest as she wondered just what was tasty about her skin. Kisame, seemingly reading her mind, chuckled. "I'm not talking `bout your skin, princess. Your blood is quite the delicacy."

Her blood? But her cut was on her lip, not –

Her hand. She'd used her hand to wipe her mouth. After she'd bit it out of nerves. Itachi had said it had only just started coagulating.

Four things happened simultaneously next. Sakura paled with horror as understanding sunk in, Kisame took a step forward, Itachi snarled at him before lunging himself at the shark-man, and Neji appeared at her side and pulled her back with his poltergeist powers.

"I think it's time for you to get going," he said dryly as he guided her towards the stairs forcefully with his ability, pulling her along as he flew over the shelves. Sakura would have squealed with the delight at the realization that she was _freakin flying_, but her worry watered down her excitement.

"What about them?"

"Itachi can handle Kisame. He'll calm down once the taste of blood leaves his mouth."

"Thank you for help – hey!" Sakura was dropped non too carefully a few feet from the stairwell, landing awkwardly on her butt. She glared up at the ghost. "You know what, never mind." Mumbling insults under her breath, she stood up and was about to head downstairs when she heard a loud booming noise and the floor under her feet shook. Neji cursed before disappearing.

_Those two are still at it?!_ she frantically thought, remembering the warring duo on the floor beneath. She groaned. It the puppet man and the multi-mouthed pyro monster were still going at each other, she couldn't possibly go through there. So that meant that unless she wanted to stay with the vampire, the shark man and the lovely poltergeist ghost, her only option was to go up.

She groaned, but after a crash resounded behind her followed by snarls, she quickly skipped up the spiral steps, praying that the monsters on the next level had more control.


	4. Chapter 4

** Part VII: Sympathizing With the Enemy**

* * *

The fifth floor was quite different from the others. It was… dare she say it? More…

Childish.

There really was no other way to describe it; unless one considered "coming straight from a fairy tale" as a better form of description. Which perhaps it was.

The shelves here were lined with colourful wigs of every shade of the rainbow in every style, no matter how atrocious. Hats of all kinds and colors followed, along with capes, festival masks, and other decorations before another shelve appeared harbouring everything one would ever need for a pirate costume, then another shelve containing cowboy equipment, then royalty (unlike the noblesse outfits on the previous floor where everything was made historically correct, the royalty costumes on this floor were more Disney-like), and so on and so forth.

As Sakura wandered deeper into the maze of merchandise, she noticed that there was a section dedicated to wildlife – there were tree costumes, flower costumes, and so many different animal costumes she wouldn't be surprised if there was a platypus or a dodo costume among them. She walked closer to the section, admiring the intricate detail all the shop's costumes seemed to have.

Off to the corner, she spotted a fox costume. Unconsciously, she reached for it, tenderly holding it as she ran her fingers over the soft red fur. She was reminded of her friend Naruto. Hadn't he said he wanted to be a wild animal for Halloween? She thought a fox would suit him.

And then Sasuke went and had called him an animal-themed stripper.

Sakura chuckled at the memory. Somehow, it seemed like it was weeks since that happened, even though it had only been earlier that day. Curious, she checked her watch, remembering that she and her friends had a time limit. She was shocked when her watch told her they'd been in the shop for an hour and a half. But then surprise gave way to confusion. Didn't the guys tell her they'd call her in an hour? She reached for her purse, but then she realized that instead of her purse, she was carrying two swords. She face-palmed.

Of course she left all her stuff way back on the first floor. Immediately, she felt a little guilty. The shop was very easy to get lost in, and now that there were four floors filled with monsters standing between her and her purse, she had no way of communicating with her companions. It could very easily take a couple more hours to get reunited, and even then they'd be cutting it close to the party.

_Not that we can go to the party without costumes_, the pinkette mused dejectedly. She sighed. Since when was getting a Halloween costume such a hassle? With monsters included, no less?

Deciding to just pick a costume and go find her friends, Sakura returned the fox costume to its place and whirled around, only to shriek "_Hocus Pocus!_" before jumping back and holding on to an owl mannequin for dear life.

What caused her to react so was, unsurprisingly, the presence of a young man who had soundlessly materialized behind her and was grinning happily at her, his nose a mere inch from hers. He had short, messy black hair, raven-black eyes and was dressed like a pirate, eye patch and all sans the beard. She blinked. Were it not for the fact that this guy was smiling from ear to ear and was looked younger than her, she'd say that he looked quite a bit like Itachi. And Itachi, in turn, reminded her of someone…

Nope. She refused to go there.

"Hello!" he greeted enthusiastically, stretching out his hand to her. "Welcome to Akatsuki! Tobi works on the fifth floor, so Tobi can help if you need!"

"Euh, thanks…?" Sakura confusedly replied, taking the youth's offered hand.

Tobi, as he had introduced himself, didn't just help her up. Oh no, he yanked her to her feet with surprising strength, then proceeded to pump her hand up and down enthusiastically before taking it upon himself to take her on a guided tour of the fifth floor.

"Tobi is so excited! It's been ages since a pretty girl came to see Tobi!"

"Ah, thank you, Tobi," Sakura replied, not really knowing what to make of the situation. After a few minutes of Tobi's nonstop yakking, Sakura let out a frustrated sigh. "Actually, Tobi, I was hopping to find a costume and go find my friends," she said, trying to catch her breath. This kid walked fast!

Tobi stopped and looked at her with his visible eye. "Why didn't costumer-chan say so? Tobi can help find a costume and costumer-chan's friends!"

Sakura's lips twitched up into a smile. "You can just call me Sakura."

"Sakura-chan!" Tobi agreed with a chirp. Inwardly, Sakura couldn't help but think that Tobi was a very cheerful pirate. "Sakura-chan has a costume she likes?"

She shook her head. "No, actually –"

"Sakura-chan doesn't know what costume she wants?!" Tobi dramatically gasped, clutching his chest where his heart is. Determination shined in his eye. "Tobi will help! Sakura-chan cannot leave without a costume!"

Before Sakura could even debate if his announcement even required a reply, he tugged her through the maze of shelves towards what she knew in her gut to be the dreaded changing rooms. Dreaded, because it was there that all hell broke loose on every single one of the other floors. And to be honest, she had very little hope of it being any different with Tobi. Even if he was childishly adorable and younger than the others.

Sure enough, the open space came into sight and both pirate and pinkette stepped into the area. "What does Sakura-chan like to dress up as?" Tobi asked.

"Something simple. I don't particularly like being in the spotlight, especially if it's because the costume is more… mature. I just want something that looks good on me, and that's comfortable." Sakura was surprised at the blunt honesty coming out of her mouth. She didn't know where it came from, but she figured it must be because all the adrenaline rush was finally catching up to her. Tobi didn't seem to notice her tired tone and simply nodded vigorously in agreement.

"Tobi sees, and he agrees. Tobi doesn't like to be ignored, but when too many people surround Tobi it's scary! And," he leaned closer to her ear and whispered conspiringly behind his hand, "Tobi thinks girls who dress like they're on the beach are the scariest of them all."

Sakura barked out a laugh before covering her mouth. Oh, this was just precious!

Tobi, encouraged by her reaction, cheerfully opened up a room for her, writing "SAkuRa-cHaN" on the small whiteboard on the door with a red marker. "There! Now you can say this room belongs to you, Sakura-chan – it really does have your name on it!" he giggled. Sakura smiled at him. He was really just too cute.

"Thanks, Tobi." He beamed at her.

"Tobi will now go find a costume for Sakura-chan! Yes?"

Before Sakura could open her mouth to answer, the temperature suddenly dropped, causing the skin all over her arms and neck to break out into goose bumps. Shocked, she gasped lightly as the unexpected change creeped around her and felt the frigid air cool her mouth. She let out her breath tentatively, and watched in amazement as it became visible steam.

"Tobi, what's happening?" she whispered to her attendant. Tobi shot her an impish grin and skipped away towards the centre aisle, waving his hand in greeting towards the two approaching figures.

"Haku-kun! Kimimaro-san!"

"Hello, Tobi," a gentle voice greeted back. Sakura squinted. The one who had spoken, and was currently being embraced by the pirate, looked equally young, if not younger, as the pirate, with soft, delicate features embraced by the palest skin she'd seen and framed by long, sleek black hair. As the pirate let him go and attached himself to the other newcomer, Sakura took in the first's appearance. He had a pale, icy blue pants with a long white coat as pure as snow. In the light, Sakura could make out faint patterns in his jackets and pants, with various tiny animals running and dancing in the wind; one animal shifting into another in silent joy. And snow, always snow.

"Hello," the beautiful boy (girl?) said to her, in a voice as clear and gentle as the breeze in a morning after the rain. "You are a costumer, yes?"

"Y-yes," she stuttered, partly because she was fascinated with the gentle creature before her and partly because it was well below zero, undoubtedly thanks to said creature.

As the young girl (Sakura decided it had to be a girl, she was just too pretty) opened her mouth to introduce herself, the other newcomer spoke first.

"Haku," a quiet, tired and unmistakeably male voice said. "Can you do something about the temperature?"

"Oh, yes, of course. I apologize." And just like that, Sakura felt the air around them loose its chill and warm up. Her goose bumps remained, but not as prominently as before; which was just as well since the air didn't fully return to the comfortable previous room temperature. But it was comfortable enough.

Tobi skipped over to Sakura, taking her by the hand and tugging her towards the others. "This is our costumer, Sakura-chan," he introduced her, raising their joined hands above her head and spinning her, like a child showing off a new toy. "Sakura-chan, these are Tobi's coworkers: Kimimaro-san, the Scary Skeleton, and Haku-kun, the Snowman!"

Haku sighed in a way that seemed as they'd had this conversation many times before, while Kimimaro stared impassively at Tobi. "Tobi, I'm not a snowman – I'm a Man of Snow," Haku said.

_So he's a boy_, Sakura thought. _Damn._

"Aw, same thing!"

"Tobi, show some respect," Kimimaro said. Sakura turned her green eyes in his direction, taking in how sharply dressed he was: straight, black dress pants with a white dress shirt unbuttoned to the middle of his pale chest. She was surprised at seeing he had white hair parted down the middle with each side held in loose hair ties, with red lining around his eyes and two red dots on his forehead. And he looked tired; the first one to look so in the whole store so far. Tobi introduced him as… a skeleton, was it? She scrutinized him more closely. He was far from bony. Huh. Maybe Tobi said the wrong thing. Or maybe there was some myth with skeletons she was not aware of.

Kimimaro noticed her intense gaze and turned so their eyes would meet. Sakura, realizing she'd been caught staring, smiled bashfully and timidly waved at him. He stared. And then, as she watched, the tiniest of smiles, even smaller than the vamp Itachi's, unfolded; his tired, wary eyes warming up just the slightest bit. He approached her.

"It's very nice to meet you, Sakura-san," he said. His voice was whisper-loud and soft like a feather, but laced with something heavy akin to grief. She wondered why that was. "What can we help you with?"

She sighed in relief, with a hint of wariness. At least this guy seems calm. "Just a costume, please, Kimimaro-san," she said. "Any one would do so long as it's appropriate." He nodded lightly.

"Size small?" When she nodded her confirmation, his eyes warmed up more. "You look like it – your body is petite." Sakura decided to take this as a compliment and thanked him. He inclined his head and turned towards his companions, who had been listening. "If you don't mind," he said to them, "I'll take care of this one." Tobi _awwww_ed and pouted childishly, but gave up once Haku said it was alright and invited him to a snowball fight. The pirate immediately cheered up and bounced off. Haku followed after he started some hot tea for Sakura in the staff room and telling her that they'd be just around the corner should she need anything, anything at all.

Once the two were gone, Kimiaro looked at Sakura, his gaze focusing and reversing every other second. She could imagine his brain bringing to mind every female costume in that floor to mind like a catalogue, and putting it over her to see if it would suit her. After a few moments, he nodded to himself and quietly excused himself, not before inviting her to sit on one of the lounge chairs and leaving a pot of tea and a cup.

With time to fill and peace surrounding her for the first time since she entered the shop, Sakura found herself letting wonder at the bizarre occurrences and even more bizarre people who caused them. She was sure that, normally, a person would have bolted straight for the door the second the creature revealed their true selves. She didn't; she wasn't entirely sure why. After mulling it over for a bit, she realized that while she had indeed run away when the – she hesitated at using the word – monsters revealed their true natures, she hadn't done so because she feared them. She'd ran because she was completely caught off guard at such an unexpected turn of events. Of course, the fact that they were fighting and ready to literally blow each other to smithereens had undoubtedly turned on her fight or flight instinct.

But really, could she blamed?

Sipping her tea (mandarin orange, yum), her thoughts returned back to the beings who manned the shop. An insane Dr. Jerkyll and Mr. Hyde chef, a mummy, a werewolf with a doppelganger, a moth-man, a zombie, a Frankenstein, a puppet man, a fire demon with three mouths, a vampire, a shark-man, a poltergeist ghost, a man of snow, a pirate (who didn't fool her for a second, she knew that there was more to him despite his cuteness), and a skeleton (who looked nothing like the emancipated being her mind conjured at the name). That was quite the array of characters the shop had as its workers.

Talking about the shop, Sakura wondered where exactly the shop owner, Pein, fit in. He couldn't be a normal human, could he? Like really, to be able to control all the others while simultaneously running Akatsuki? He had to have a secret up his sleeve. Which left Sakura questioning what exactly it could be.

Kimimaro returned shortly, cutting her musing short, and presented her with what at first glance looked like a tree costume full of vines and flowers. She glanced at Kimimaro with uncertainty, but he only urged her to trust him with a silent look in his perpetually tired eyes.

She didn't hesitate. She took the costume from him and thanked him, quickly changing into the new costume with only a few minor struggles with the details on it. When she stepped out of the changing room, she felt invigorated. This costume was hands down topping her list.

Kimimaro glanced up from his phone (so normal!) when he heard the door creak open, and silently regarded the pinkette for a minute before letting out a faint, pleased smile. "You look… great," he said. And indeed she did.

Her costume was of a nymph, a mythological creature who was a personification of nature. They were beautiful and graceful, living deities of Mother Nature herself in human form. Sakura had a crown of pink and white roses, with a few in full bloom or in bud form, with most in between. Green leaves intertwined among themselves to hold the flowers in place, snaking around her head as they wove between, over, and behind her pink locks. A form-fitting strapless bodice with a low cut back bared her porcelain shoulders and collarbone in a delicate caress, as the bodice itself seemed to be made from giant flower petals which were white at the tips and made a smooth transition into red, making it appear like Sakura's torso was sprouting from middle of the flower bud. A belt of tiny acorns and apple blossoms twisted around her waist, and green leaves of all sizes and tones, layered upon one another with flowers randomly scattered, fell gently around her legs, one side longer than the other so her left leg showed a little more of her toned thigh than her right. The dress was shorter at the front than at the back, so the skirt followed after her, the leaves which made it up fluttering and whispering against one another like they might do were they on a tree as the wind blew by.

Sakura often was accustomed to being compared to a flower, as her name combined with her unusual hair and vivid eye coloration made it quite and easy thing to do. However, this was the first time she had dressed as her namesake, and not just as any flower, but a non-plant ethereal being who shared a life with it. She wasn't only a plant or only a person; she was both. And she loved it.

Her eyes twinkled as she looked at Kimimaro. "Thank you."

Surprise flickered in his sad orbs. He hadn't really done anything. And honestly, he couldn't imagine why anyone would thank him – no one ever thanked him for anything he did, aside from Haku who understood him. In fact, everyone cursed at him, hated him, despised his existence, feared him with unimaginable passion. It was bizarre how that human girl could look him straight in the eye and speak her gratitude and _mean it_. It was disorienting…but, he silently thought to himself, quite pleasant. A very welcome, much needed change.

Although said human girl was focused on her new costume, she was still aware enough of her surroundings to notice Kimimaro's strange reaction to her words. She paused her twirling to give him a long look. He looked back at her, unblinking. Slowly, she walked closer to him, never breaking eye contact with him or he with her. When she was at arm's reach, she tilted her head to the side, and asked, "Kimimaro-san, why do you react so surprised?"

Kimimaro's shoulders tensed briefly at her unexpected question. He didn't answer. Sakura, not one to be easily deterred, asked another question. "Alright then," she said, "then can you show me your true form?"

Shock was his reaction this time. His true form? She wanted to see her true form? It couldn't be. It was inconceivable. "That's not possible, Sakura-san," he answered, his voice more wary than she had heard it before. She frowned.

"Why not? All the others seemed just fine."

"My form is… different. I don't want to scare you." His sad eyes looked away then, ashamed and unsure. However, when the petite rosette snorted at his answer, he couldn't help but glance back at her in confusion only to find her unbelieving gaze as she cocked her hip to the side.

"Oh please. I've seen a werewolf, a moth-man, a vampire, a mummy, a shark-man, a bipolar chef who can control the size of his limbs, a ghost, a zombie, a Frankenstein monster, a man of snow, a living puppet, a pyro demon, and a pirate that is obviously more than he seems. I think that whatever your true form is, I can take it."

"You don't know what you're asking for."

"Then tell me. Honestly speaking, you could turn into a lamp with googly eyes, dragon scales and a cowboy hat and I wouldn't be surprised."

It was odd seeing amusement in his eyes mixed with anguish for a second before he shook his head resolutely and turned away from her. "I can't," was his quiet, agonized response. Sakura frowned. Why was he so against revealing his true form? What's more, why did he seem so downhearted, so heartbreakingly forlorn when she asked him?

Not one to let another alone when it was obvious they needed someone, and because she was far too curious, Sakura came closer to Kimimaro, planting herself in front of him. When he didn't look up at her, she touched his arm lightly to get his attention. Immediately, his head snapped up and his eyes locked on hers, his body tensing as if he was electrocuted. She removed her hand. "Kimimaro-san, please. I want to know. I promise – I swear that whatever you are, you won't scare me away."

He looked like he wanted to believe her, he really did. But his eyes revealed such a deep sorrow that Sakura wondered if there once was someone, or a bunch of someones, who had said the same thing and broke their promise anyway.

"Don't make promises you can't keep, Sakura-san. Your reputation will suffer otherwise."

"Then it's lucky that I have yet to break a promise to anyone. Ever." She raised her hand to touch his face – such a tired, sad face. Beautiful, but quietly suffering inside. She lowered her voice. "Kimimaro, I can never fear nor hate you. Let me see who you are, I want to understand."

"You'll regret it," he cautioned her.

"I'll take my chances. Plus you don't know that."

Sakura watched as Kimimaro struggled with himself. He wanted to trust her, trust her words so badly, but his ingrained fear of what the opposite would bring stopped him. He closed his eyes. He didn't want any more fear. He didn't want any more hate. And he sure as hell didn't want either of those from the pinkette before him. He opened his eyes and looked down at her. Her determined gaze destroyed his resolution to deny her. With a heavy heart, wary yet hopeful of the outcome, he stepped back. Sakura followed after him, thinking he was leaving, but with a raised hand he told her to wait.

With her curious eyes on him, Kimimaro let out a long-suffering breath as a black cloud spiralled from the palm of his raised hand, spiralling and twisting into a bigger size until it was as big as a door, standing between him and Sakura. Sakura's eyebrows shot up, her eyes widened – she had yet to see something like that – but resolutely kept her mouth shut lest she said something she shouldn't. Kimimaro glanced at her, half-expecting her to run away in terror, but seeing her standing there with only surprise on her face gave him the courage and light boost of hope to step through the obscure cloud.

He passed as easily as he would real smoke, but his appearance once he'd walked through was completely different. The Kimimaro behind the smoke screen was dressed in modern clothing. The Kimimaro who stood before her wore a long, black coat which covered him from head to toe with a hood over his head casting his face in darkness. His hand, strong and looking skeletal in its paleness and its sharp joints, held on to a scythe. The air around them seemed to drop in temperature, but not in the same way as it had with Haku – this difference in temperature was due to the absence of life, not the absence of heat.

Sakura remained rooted to her spot. She was speechless. Whatever she was expecting, it was most definitely _not_ this.

"I told you you'd regret it," Kimimaro's quiet voice whispered beneath his hood. Melancholy filled his voice, resignation for the worse evident. Sakura snapped her mouth shut in bewilderment.

"What asinine things are you saying?" she demanded. "Who says I regret anything?"

"You don't have to lie," he said. "I can see it in your face."

She growled. "Buddy, you need some lessons in reading facial expressions. This is not my 'oh-shit I-really-wish-this-wasn't-happening' face. This is my 'oh-wow I-did-not-see-that-coming' face. Get it right!"

He seemed stunned. "You are not afraid of me? You don't hate me?" He couldn't have sounded more bewildered if he tried.

"No," she answered, crossing her arms, "and no. Why would I?"

He licked his lips, not that she could see. "Because of what I am…"

"What? A _shikigami_? A grim reaper?" He tensed, and she softened her tone, sensing how sensitive he was about it. "Kimimaro-san, I can't hate you for who or what you are. I can only judge based on what you do."

"I kill people, Sakura-san."

She gave him a level stare. "Do you really, Kimimaro-san? Do you?" When he didn't answer, she kept insisting. "Are you the disease that weakens the body until it can longer function properly? Are you the drunk driver who disregarded laws and common sense and ran over innocent pedestrians? Are you the sadistic psychopath who plans and revels in the torture of others until their last breath? Or the haunting depression that makes life unbearable for some, driving them to suicide? How about the arrogant douchebag who thinks showing off to his buddies with a rifle is a good idea and ends up shooting what he thought was a dear but turned out to be his friend who was hiking nearby? Or the simple peanut that was accidentally ingested by someone with severe peanut allergies? Huh? Are you any of those? Because I tell you, if you are, then clearly you're in need of a reality _and _an identity check." At his stupefied silence, she raised her voice. "Well, are you?"

"N-no…" he stuttered, clearly at a loss of any other articulate answers.

But it seemed that that was the answer she needed, so she smiled at him. It wasn't a forced smile, or a fake smile. It was actually affectionate. Kimimaro didn't know what to make of it. He had never been at the receiving end of one such smiles.

"Then Kimimaro, you don't kill people. You are not death. You're only the messenger sent to guide lost souls to whatever resting place awaits them. But you're not the cause of their death."

He raised his face a little and she nearly could make out his eyes from beneath the hood. However, she didn't need to fully see them in order to know the confusion, the rising hope he desperately supressed that was developing in his volatile heart.

"But I'm still hateful," he said. "I take away people precious to others. I take them against their will, and they rightfully hate me for it. They fear me because they know their fate is in my fleshless hands." He shook, and she knew his body trembled not with anger, but with untold sorrow. "I hate to do it. I do. I may not be human, but I understand pain. Desolation and grief are two of my constant companions; others being solitude, fear and hate. It hurts, but I take it. I receive the fear and hate of thousands, every day for eternity. Because it's my duty to take them where they belong. But the hate and fear continues; will continue. It will never stop."

Sakura looked softly at him. She pitied him. She never thought she'd pity a grim reaper, of all things, but she did. Someone like Kimimaro did not deserve such an existence. To have the hate of thousands directed at him daily, to know their fear is as strong as their hate… Sakura attempted to imagine what that must be like. She couldn't. No one could withstand it. They'd die of a broken heart, of the emotional torture. Then they'd have some release. But how did you become free of such torment when you represented death? As she watched Kimimaro, she was sure I wasn't just the burden of hate and fear directed at him daily by all those departed souls. He also hated himself. He didn't fear himself, but the fear was replaced with guilt – he felt guilty for doing his job, he felt he deserved everything the souls threw at him because he believed he was the cause of their unhappiness.

She was determined to prove him wrong.

Slowly, so as to not startle him, she reached for his face. She let her fingertips slide down the side of his face before cupping his cheek. "Kimimaro." His trembling stopped, but the tension in his body remained, and the tightness in his eyes expressed his desolation. But he stilled and listened. "Kimimaro, don't think so poorly of yourself. Don't say you deserve all that hate and fear. You don't, you hear me? You don't deserve all that pain."

"But I –"

"No, Kimimaro. You listen to me, and you listen good. All these souls, they don't hate you. They don't fear you. What they hate and fear is what you _represent_ – the unknown, the next stage of life. You're only the messenger, but you conveniently have a face they can connect to the situation. I don't know how much you know about humans in life, but we work by making connections. We compare, we find relationships and associations, we try to find patterns and make symbols to help us remember and give form to foreign concepts that are not tangible. Death and the Otherworld are not tangible, and no one can come back and tell us how it is – what dying feels like, what the Other Side is like. We fear the unknown. And we hate rapid change. To us, dying is the ultimate unknown, and the fastest change we can go through. But we can't imagine it, can't even _begin_ to imagine it. But you, Kimimaro, you are tangible. You already have a form. You have a face, and a uniform, and a duty which we can observe. You are a symbol of what we fear and hate the most – but a symbol of such a concept is not the concept itself. Do you understand what I'm saying?" His face nodded against her hand.

"Kimimaro, the only reason you have all that fear and hate directed at you is simply because it's convenient, because all these souls don't know what or who to take out their frustration on. But it's not you yourself that's the problem. It's us – our inability to follow our 'don't shoot the messenger' moral, and our inane and irrational desire to hold on to things we know all along are not for us to hold on to forever." She smiled. "We're like petulant children, in that sense, and you the unfortunate nanny that suffers our tantrums."

She felt him smile, the slight upturn of his lips pushing up his cheeks. The tightness of his eyes began to recede, and Sakura dared to push back his black hood. Surprisingly, he let her. Joyfully, she was able to see his grief and self-loathing diminish. She was glad.

"So I'm a nanny?" he asked her with some humour laced in his previously aggrieved voice.

"A very tolerant nanny. The best," she chirped. "Honestly, Kimimaro. You are. At this point, anyone else would have lost patience with all us and our stupid tantrums. They would have yelled at us, scared us, or simply gave us the cold shoulder. But I'm going to go ahead and guess that that's not what you do. You probably comfort us, don't you? You not only let us take out our frustrations on you, but you also try to make us feel better in any ay you can. Don't you?"

"How do you figure?"

She laughed. "Kimimaro, you let yourself be tortured by our unjust hate and fear instead of putting us in our place by lashing back at us or making us feel worse. You literally sacrificed yourself to ease our pain. Why would I think otherwise given all this proof?" She released his face and walked beside him, encouraging him to walk with beside her with a smile. "I can imagine you singing lullabies to children who've moved on, to ease their fears. You probably let them climb all over you and talk you into playing tag with them or something too. Carrying a baby as you rubbed soothing circles on his back while you cooed at him." She held on to his arm and gave him her most brilliant smile. "Don't you see, Kimimaro? I can imagine all that so easily, because you are inherently kind. You are a good person, and you don't deserve to put up with our spoiled brat manners. Don't ever doubt it."

With those words, the chains holding down his heart shattered. He took a deep breath and let it go. He could breathe easily again. The weight of the world had literally evaporated from his shoulders, and he felt at peace. It was so liberating; after so much desolation and hate aimed at him for so long. He was free.

He turned towards the pinkette, who still held on to his arm. He slipped his arm from her hers and instead wrapped it around her shoulders, pulling her into the first hug of his existence (and he couldn't be more glad it was her he was sharing it with. "Thank you," he breathed into her hair, those two simple words carrying the weight of his relief and gratitude. She smiled.

"Your welcome, Kimimaro. Now what do you say you escort me through all the nuthouses down to the main floor so I can get my clothes and my wallet and pay for this wonderful costume you picked for me, ne?"

Pulling back, he returned his smile with a small one of his own. "It'll be my pleasure." He offered her his arm like a gentleman, and she accepted it without a thought. As they neared the staircase, the sounds of several battles echoed to their ears, making Sakura shake her head. She honestly wasn't surprised any more. But Kimimaro seemed to have other ideas. With a wicked glint in his eye, he tightened his hold on his scythe and moved so he was slightly in front of Sakura. She looked curiously at him. He smirked. "I always wanted to test my scythe against those insufferable goons."

She laughed heartily at his words, and as one they moved to the staircase to begin their descent.

What neither was expecting was the sudden appearance of Tobi, sliding down a path of ice with Haku scatting at breakneck speed right behind him like a bat out of hell, heading straight for them. Tobi opened his mouth, as if to yell in warning. They did not expect the sudden lightning strikes that appeared out of nowhere and hit everything around them, blinding and deafening them with their impossibly loud booms as they took away the world around them, and their startled yells with a lone female voice shrieking in panic.

Sakura knew nothing else aside from the fact that Kimimaro was no longer beside her.

* * *

** Part VIII: Enter, The Last Two**

* * *

_Am I dead?_ was Sakura's first thought. She wasn't sure. She was more comfortable than she'd been in all her life, and after her last memories trickled back, she saw no other explanation for her current predicament. Wherever it is that she was. Then she wondered, if she was dead, then why wasn't she in Heaven already? Because seriously, she was confident that she hadn't done anything to warrant her a trip to Hades. So unless she was waiting for a shikigami to pick her up, she didn't know what to do next.

_I should've asked Kimimaro to be my grim reaper,_ she lamented. _Then at least I'd know for sure, and have someone I know help me through the transition._

Thinking about her new friend, Sakura began to wonder what happened to him and the others. She wasn't sure if Kimimaro could die, being an agent of the otherworld and all that, but she wasn't sure about the other two. Being monsters, it was unlikely that something as simple as lightning bolt could kill them – after all, if humans could survive it (though not always), then shouldn't they, as monsters and thus stronger than humans, have no need to fear it? But if her memory served right, Tobi and Haku looked a little panicked right before the lightning storm hit.

Which reminded her: where the heck did those lightning bolts come from? They were indoors, for crying out loud! With a groan, she squirmed as she tried to pull herself together. Whispers made themselves known to her, so low that she wasn't able to tell who was speaking or about what. If she was dead, then were those the shikigami? But if that was the case, then they were doing a terrible job of conversing on the job instead of helping her out. Seeing how stupid that thought was, she safely assumed that she was, in fact, very much alive. She let out a breath she didn't know she'd been holding.

Good. More proof.

"Mademoiselle Sakura?" a soft voice prodded.

With another groan, Sakura slowly opened her eyes. She struggled to focus for a moment, but when she did, she found the concerned face of Choji looking down at her. She blinked, feeling like she usually did Monday mornings after staying out too late the night before.

"Choji," she said. "What happened?"

She sat up painstakingly carefully, feeling a number of hands supporting her back. Scratch what she said before, she felt like she was hangover. She had never been hangover, mind you, but from what she had heard, the symptoms were all there. Holding her throbbing head, she looked around. All the Akatsuki shop attendants were there, standing worryingly around her. Choji, Shikamaru, Kiba, Shino, Hidan, Kakuzu, Deidara, Itachi, Kisame, Sasori, Haku, Neji, Tobi, Kimimaro… The only one missing was –

"Have you awakened, little one?"

– Pein.

Sakura glared half-heartedly at him, looking more like an annoyed kitten at being awakened from a nap than anything due to her groggy state. She didn't know why, or how, but somehow she knew that Pein had been the mastermind behind that little parlour trick with the lightning. She was sure of it.

He chuckled. "There is no need to look at me like that, little one," he said. "I assure you, the last thing I wish to do is give you cause for alarm or suspicion."

"Newsflash," she growled, "too late for that; although I can't say I'm surprised at anything anymore with everything that's happened." A sudden wave of nausea hit her, and she groaned again, cradling her throbbing head in her hands as she willed her stomach to settle. Someone nudged a small garbage can with a plastic bag against her side, just in case her stomach refused to comply with her brain's demands.

She idly wondered how they knew how she felt ill. Then dismissed that thought when she felt a warm hand brushing away her bands and settle against her forehead. It felt pleasant.

"I _am_ sorry about this," Pein said, and he did sound regretful. His hand slid down the side of her face to cup her cheek. "It's been such a long time since I used magyk on a mortal that I'd forgotten about the aftereffects it causes ."

"Magic…?" Sakura mumbled, cracking open an eye to give him a flat look. She had a feeling there was a monster missing from the collection. After all, what monster gathering didn't have wizards, or sorcerers, or warlocks? What was the difference between them anyway?

_Bad brain,_ she chided herself, _now is not the time._

Pein brought up his other hand to her other cheek, and leaned forward so their foreheads were touching. Is she was feeling better, she would have head-butted him into next week, never mind that he had a full entourage of very powerful bodyguards. As it was, she had neither the energy nor the will for any sudden movements.

As she watched Pein's eyes glaze over in concentration behind half-closed eyelids, his eyelashes so close to brushing hers, the pounding headache that was assaulting her began to recede. As this was happening, her stomach slowed down its rolling and toiling, until it simmered down to a few gurgles before it returned to normal as if nothing was wrong. A soft hum of energy fluttered through all her nerve endings, in every part of her body. She realized that this energy was purging every ache and upset cell in her body so gently she almost didn't notice what he was doing. The relief nearly made her purr in pleasure, but she had enough sense and willpower to stop herself from doing something so embarrassing.

Pein opened his eyes slowly a moment later and leaned back slightly; just enough for her to see the smug smirk plastered on his face. "I hope I was of some assistance, _kitten_," he murmured only loud enough for her to hear. Her cheeks flamed. Just what she needed, a bloody mind-reader. Having been restored to full strength, she had no qualms about swatting him away with perhaps a bit more force than was called for. She didn't get his face like she planed to, but she was able to push back his hands from her face.

Surprisingly, she missed their warmth as soon as they lost contact.

Sitting up, she noticed the disapproving looks the others casted Pein, who either was ignorant to them or simply chose to ignore them. Not sure what to do, she pulled her knees to her chest as she waited for something to happen. Two things did.

First, she noticed her clothes had been changed while she'd been unconscious. She was no longer wearing the nymph costume Kimimaro had found for her, nor her original clothes for that matter. When she pulled in her legs, she saw that they were adorned in a flowing, shimmering dress of the purest white she'd ever laid eyes on, all in satin. Bewildered, Sakura jumped from the bed she'd been left on and looked down at herself, the others around her moving back to give her some space. Neji beckoned over a mirror from the corner of the room with his powers, and Sakura looked at her reflection with awe.

The cloth flowed with a grace that she wouldn't ever have believed cloth could have, seeming to float as it caressed her legs and the very air around. The base of the dress was lightly plaited, with the hem slightly rolled out so it twisted with every move, making the rest of the skirt appear in constant motion as if it were otherworldly – but from the divine instead of damned side.

Sakura trailed her eyes up her thighs, past her hips until she was looking at herself completely. She was indeed clad in a precious white dress which embraced every curve, yet felt more like a second skin than a tight dress; it fit her so perfectly and was so comfortable. The chest of the dress fluttered with tiny scattered flowers which, upon closer inspection, she noticed were not single items but were instead made from the tiny pearls. The pearly flowers were concentrated on the top of the sweetheart line, then spread out as they moved down, appearing to fade around her ribs. Her shoulders were covered in many thin straps which alternated from the same precious white of the rest of the dress with see-through shimmery material which reflected back the colors of the rainbow; creating soft ruffles with a few straps purposely having fallen off the shoulders to float around her upper arms.

Completely awestruck at the masterpiece she was wearing, she gaped open-mouthed like a fish. She looked around at the others, not sure what to say or what she was expecting them to say, but hoping someone could explain. What she found were not explanations. What she found instead were the tender gazes of everyone present, all trained on her. Which led to the second thing that occurred.

After letting their gazes linger on her baffled form a second longer, they all got down on one knee in perfect synchronisation, bowing their heads as if in reverence. Pein remained standing only long enough to take a step towards her so when he kneeled on both knees before her, he was only an arm's length away. However, unlike the others, he kept his head up, meeting her confused deep emerald orbs with his smoky ringed ones.

"P-Pein…? What's going on? What – or more exactly, why am I wearing this?"

"Miss Sakura…" Pein reached for her hand and cradled it in both of his, covering it in both of his larger ones with delicacy as if she was made of porcelain. While she might have found it a bit offensive were it anyone else, it occurred to Sakura that this mysterious man had indeed enough power to turn her bones into dust if he so chose to. But he didn't, and his kneeling down – all of their kneeling down – had her beyond confused, and actually very curious. So she bit her tongue to keep from firing the endless questions she had; she had a feeling questioning him was unnecessary. She was right.

"Miss Sakura, what you are wearing is what is called the Gown of Heaven," Pein explained. "Every few hundred years, about three hundred or so on average, a maiden of such pure heart and spirit is born with the ability to become a Divine Being; hence the name. This maiden is so pure and so good, that she is able to reach the hearts of those the world believed to have no heart, bring to hope to those who lost their way, accept those whom the world shunned, bring to life those whose souls were shattered. She heals the wounds beyond the physical realm, the wounds and scars that no medicine or treatment can ever hope to achieve. I have spent over nearly a half a millennia trying to find the next maiden in line."

"And you think I'm her?" To say she was stunned was putting it mildly. Had anyone ever told her such things just over an hour earlier, she would've laughed and brushed him off as kindly as she could, while calling the police to see if they could escort him back to whichever asylum he'd escaped from. But after the day's events, and the people she'd met, she had no problem accepting the mage's – warlock's, sorcerer's, wizard's, _whatever_ – words as if they were fact. That fact alone surprised her.

Pein chuckled good-naturedly at her astounded tone. "I am most certain of it."

"How do you know? I mean, I'm not exactly what you call the most 'pure' and whatnot. I can actually get a little violent, and my temper has quite an infamous reputation. It's also known that I'm not above playing dirty if need be. If you don't believe me, ask my friends." Her eyes snapped open wide. "_My friends!_ Oh my gosh, Naruto and Sasuke! Where are they? Are they alright?" she demanded the kneeling orange-haired man. He smiled comfortingly at her.

"I assure you, they are perfectly fine." He waved his hand and before her eyes, a small bubble appeared in the center of the room and began rapidly increasing in size. When it appeared as large as a bathtub, he snapped his fingers and the bubble popped, a bright light making momentarily her look away. When she glanced back, she found her two friends floating in in midair just a split second before gravity got a hold of them and brought them down, making them yelp.

"What he hell was that?!" Naruto cried out indignantly as he rubbed his head, for he had practically been unceremoniously dropped on it, as he pushed himself to his hands and knees. Sasuke, who had been a little more lucky in that aspect, grunted as he brought himself up on his forearms and grimaced when he moved his bottom, making it evident where exactly he'd been dropped.

"Naruto! Sasuke!" Sakura cried out upon seeing them. She was honestly happy to see them.

At the sound of their names, both boys looked up in her direction, and when they saw their pinkette friend, immediately forgot their injuries and scrambled to their feet as they moved towards her. "Sakura-chan! You're alive!"

"Hn."

Sakura smiled at their antics, but when she really looked at them, she exploded into a fit of giggles, struggling valiantly to keep from full-blown, hyperventilating laughter. They paused their stride, confused at why she was laughing at them. She certainly wasn't laughing with them, that was for sure. Seeing their confused faces, Sakura pointed at their clothes before continuing with her guffaws, pulling her hand away from Pein's to cover her mouth; little snorts sneaking past her firmly sealed lips which twitched as they strained to contain her laughter. Pein didn't mind, in fact he enjoyed watching her enjoy herself so much.

The two friends shared a look before noticing what the other was wearing. That's when the real show began.

"GAH! MY EYES! Bastard, I thought strippers weren't your thing?! What the hell possessed you to put on _that_ get-up?!"

"Have you _seen_ yourself, dobe? You look like you just stepped off the toy train! Or better yet, like you visited Cruela Devil's closet! Wait, what do you mean by stripper –?"

"_What the hell is this crap I'm wearing?!_"

Both boys looked down at themselves and nearly had an aneurism each when they realized just exactly what they were wearing. Naruto was dressed as fox, like he'd wanted, but his fox costume was the furthest thing possible from what he'd initially imagined (aka, sexy man-beast). Simply put, it was an adult-sized baby costume – meaning that it was the equivalent of a one-piece suit with a hood which carried large, pointy fox ears and nine bushy fox tails on the back; paired with a pointy snout sprouting from Naruto's face. The suit was baggy around the middle, and a fur collar surrounded his neck, wrists and ankles, which sported shows with an uncanny resemblance to real fox paws, as did his hands. To top it off, there was a weird squiggly drawing with random marks in the form of a spiral right smack in the middle of Naruto's belly, thoroughly distracting from the overall getup.

Sasuke was worse off by a mile. While Naruto's costume was a far cry from the sexy beast he had imagined, it was at least a decent costume; if adorable in a hilarious kind of way. But Sasuke was to be humiliated to the _extreme_. He had tight black leather pants riding low on his hips, with slits running up along the sides of his legs. The only thing that held the front and back of his pants together were criss-crossing navy blue leather seams, decorated with silver chains and buckles. Very easy to lose the pants if the buckles got caught on anything… or anyone's fingers. He wore a black dress shirt with the sleeves ripped off and unbuttoned all the way to his belly button, displaying his chest and a good portion of his lower torso to the world. Not to mention that the shirt not only displayed his toned, pale chest, but it also revealed more criss-crossing black leather straps running across it, forming an X across his chest. Around his throat a chocker of the same navy chains dangled with a long tail dangling loosely to his collarbone. And to finish the look, his ears had become pointed and a long, thin tail with a pointed end like a spear sprouted from his pants.

"_WHAT THE BLOODY FUCKING HELL IS THIS FUCKING SHIT I'M IN?!"_

Sasuke's face was red from both embarrassment and pure fury, turning red all the way from his neck to the tip of his pointy ears. It was truly a sight to see; not to mention that witnessing the impossibly stoic, cold and practically apathetic Uchiha scream and curse as loudly, if not more so, than the knuckleheaded blonde that was his best friend. He lost his infamous calm and collected composure in a matter of seconds. It was quite the treat for those who knew him, or at least about him.

It was more of a treat for the fangirls, who'd probably pass out from massive sudden blood loss. It was a small mercy for Sasuke that there were no fangirls around.

At his outburst, Sakura couldn't take it any more. The laughter she'd been so desperately holding back for the sake of her friends finally won the battle, and she laughed, and laughed, and laughed as if all the laughter in her lifetime had suddenly decided to burst out. It was the belly-aching, hyperventilating, rolling on the floor laughter of someone who's finally cracked.

Indeed, she was laughing so hard that she doubled over, holding her belly, until she eventually nearly crashed on the floor as tears streamed down her face. The only thing that prevented her from literally carrying out a ROFLMFAO were Shikamaru's arms which managed to catch her, and her own lack of energy to do anything other than laughing. Even trying to point at them to ridicule them with her finger was impossible.

Both boys reddened considerably at her laughter and at the mere fact that they were caught wearing such atrocious outfits (Sasuke more than Naruto). Embarrassment finally out powering anger, both boys immediately tried to rip off their costumes, preferring to be in their underwear than to spend one more second wearing such degrading monstrosities. But they couldn't do it. The costumes had no zipper, or buckle, or anything that might even hint at any sort of mechanism to get in or out of the costume.

"Teme! Help me find the zipper of this thing!" Naruto's panicked voice called out to his friend as he tried to reach his back where he was sure there was a hidden zipper.

"First help me get this shit off! This is so humiliating!" Sasuke called back with frustration, running his hands all over his body to find something, anything that would free him from his shame.

"I agree, little brother; although I must say that the look looks better on you than on many a man I have seen."

Sasuke instantly froze at those words, transforming from a wriggling body to a perfect statue in a split second. Eyes wide, he slowly turned his head in the direction of the voice, finding Itachi looking on calmly at him with a small smirk. Disbelief replaced fluster.

"Nii-san?" Sasuke's soft voice squeaked out in disbelief.

Itachi nodded. "You look well, little brother. You've grown strong."

"B-but! You're dead!"

"He's _dead?_" Naruto echoed him, looking between the brothers equally wide eyed.

"Well he's _supposed_ to be. He disappeared when I was eight and no one ever found him. Everyone in the family just assumed he'd died." At his, he shot his brother an accusing look.

"Evidently, I am very much alive." Itachi rose from his place on the ground, never breaking eye contact with Sasuke. It was this simple action that made both boys realize that they were effectively surrounded by others, who had yet to move from their kneeling positions on the floor. They gulped nervously.

"But how?" Sasuke questioned. He squinted his eyes at his brother. "Are you wearing coloured contacts?"

"Magic and no, respectively. These are my real eyes, Sasuke." Sasuke shook his head.

"Impossible. No one can have red eyes. It's just not a human trait!"

"Ah, but see, I'm no longer human, little brother." Sasuke looked at him in shock, but it was Naruto who answered.

"What the heck? What do you mean you're no longer human?" he yelled. A few of the men around them twitched at the loud volume, but otherwise merely watched the unfolding events with interest.

"Back to Sasuke's original question, the answer is the same: magic. Thanks to Pein-sama, I am now the closest thing to an immortal. A vampire, to be precise." As if expecting them to question his words, he crossed his arms and stood a foot away from them; opening his mouth slightly to reveal the sharp fangs hanging down from his gums. Startled at first, both boys peeked awkwardly inside Itachi's mouth. With building panic, they desperately looked as hard as they could to find anything that may prove the teeth to be false, to no avail. When Itachi believed they'd had enough, he closed his mouth and instead stared at them with his red eyes, which began to glow slightly. "Little brother, I assure you I am not lying, as I have never done so before and do not wish to start now. I am a vampire."

"But why?"

Pein stood beside Itachi now, and it was the orange-headed sorcerer who answered. "For the same reason everyone who works in this shop surrendered his humanity: a chance at life."

" 'Everyone who works in this shop'…?" Naruto echoed unsurely, glancing around uneasily at the others in the room and seeing them for what they were for the first time just as Sasuke did. They took in the clothes the men wore, their eyes finding the obvious differences between a silly, cheap costume and real clothing; the unnatural aspects of some of them that not even pro makeup artists could achieve, the unearthly feeling each of them gave off. They struggled to wrap their heads around the concept that they were in fact in the presence of monsters, as it was obvious to them that something wasn't right about them, but it was equally obvious that they were failing.

"It's true, guys. Trust me, I've seen more of these guys than I probably needed," Sakura said, having recovered from her laughing fit earlier. Both boys swivelled their heads to look at her. They were startled to find their pinkette friend resting comfortably against the arm of a long-haired blonde, with a redhead hovering nearby, shooting the blonde dirty looks.

"Sakura-chan, get away from them!" Naruto called out. Sakura felt the store staff stiffen at his words; some even flinch back diminutively. But she caught it. She frowned at her friends, who were looking at her with scandalized expressions.

"Naruto Uzumaki and Sasuke Uchiha! I am so ashamed of you right now!" she barked at them, standing up and marching right up to them as he levelled them with a glare. "There is no need to be so rude or speak about them in such a way. Apologize!"

"_What?_" Sasuke asked, sounding more bewildered than she'd ever heard him before. "Sakura, have they brainwashed you already?"

The back of her neck flushed in anger, and hell of a tongue-lashing retort was at the tip of her tongue when forced it down and instead said, with as much firmness as she could, "I guarantee I have not been 'brainwashed,' _Sasuke_. These guys are my friends. And if you care at all for your welfare, you _will_ apologize for your rudeness, and you _will_ talk to and about them in a respectful manner. Same goes for you, Naruto. Do I make myself clear?"

"Crystal," Naruto squeaked as he inched closer to Sasuke, slightly stepping back so the latter was standing a tiny bit between the pinkette and himself. Both boys mumbled apologies, keeping a weary eye on her closed fists.

"I see you weren't lying about your temper, yeah," Deidara smirked. "Not that I believed you were lying. But they are _so_ whipped, yeah."

Naruto snarled at him, his eyes flickering red with slit pupils for a second, the tails of his costume twisting themselves around each other. Sasuke and Sakura looked questioningly at him, but when they blinked, his eyes had returned to the sapphire blue they were familiar with and instead of a sharp-toothed snarl he now wore a combination of glare and scowl. Not fooled for a moment, Sakura turned towards Pein and raised a pink eyebrow at him; arms crossed.

"Care to elaborate about what's going on? Seriously. Explain to me why my best friend started looking like a kitsune and finish explaining what you were saying before about the maiden and all of you wishing to live. I'm so confused."

"I turned into a what?" Naruto questioned, blinking as he looked away from the other blonde upon hearing himself being mentioned. His question went unanswered.

Pein looked blankly at Sakura for a moment before nodding his acquiescence, bowing at the waist with an arm crossing over his chest like a butler. "As you wish," he said. He gestured for the others to rise, and once all of them were on their feet in a line behind him, he summoned cushioned seats with a wave of his hand and gestured for the three friends to sit on them. After a brief hesitation, they did; Sasuke and Naruto flanking Sakura. She might not have picked up on it, but when they had wanted her to get away from the others it wasn't so much because they were monsters. It was because she was a young girl, alone, surrounded by a bunch of strange men in an outfit that made her more eye-catching – in the best way possible – than ever. When they first saw her in that dress, their hearts stopped for a second as they stood mesmerized by her. But they were quick to come back to reality when the gravity of their, ahem, clothing mishap befell them.

It didn't mean that they weren't still keenly aware that they were surrounded by powerful males who, they'd noticed, looked adoringly at Sakura. So they'd be damned if they left her alone in the middle of the unknown. Again.

Upon remembering what he was currently wearing due to a small chill in the air, Sasuke quickly grabbed a blanket that had appeared with the cushions and wrapped himself in it to cover himself, looking like an ice cream with a face. He scowled at the smirks some of the others behind Pein sent his way, but otherwise didn't do anything.

Pein cleared his throat, claiming their attention. They sat up straight and fixed their eyes on him. Waiting.


	5. Chapter 5

** Part IX: Revelations**

* * *

"My name," the store owner began, "is Pein Ame. I was born six hundred years ago in a tiny village known as Rain Village in northern Europe. It was known as Rain because, as you might expect, it rained constantly there; more than in any other place. Day and night it rained be it a slight drizzle or a full-blown storm; if not, there was fog, or mist. As you probably know thanks to the amazing discoveries of the twentieth and twenty-first centuries, such a place is not ideal for optimum human health, regardless that we were used to it.

"While the people of my village were more than accustomed to the wet and cold weather, travel being much more difficult and hazardous than it is today, when the Plague struck it struck us hard and we were trapped." Sakura gasped quietly. The man had been through the Bubonic Plague, aptly nicknamed the Black Death! "The Plague was probably the worst disease in human history, as it wiped out an estimated third of the entire European population. My village, being so tiny, never stood a chance. You cannot imagine how desolate, how heartbreaking it was for us to accept our fate – our village would simply not survive and as a result be stamped out of human memory. We were simply not important in any aspect; we were just a simple village in the middle of nowhere. We would die, and no one would even remember we ever existed.

"One day, a breeze blew in carrying the disease in very high amounts. In no time at all, the small handful of isolated Plague cases we had had multiplied into over half of the village, with each day more and more people joining the ranks of the diseased. We knew that this wave would be our last one, as by the time it'd run its course, there would be no one left to welcome any more episodes. As the remaining healthy people – who chose to stay and die with their loved ones rather than to try to escape to an unknown fate alone – prepared the village and its citizens for the last rites, as no one knew when they might fall ill and leave no one to do them, a young maiden appeared.

"I was one of the lucky few whom the Plague hadn't immediately struck, and as such I was out and about helping the other healthy people when she arrived. In fact, I was the first one to see her. She wore little clothing despite the cold weather, and her clothes were simple yet so breathtakingly beautiful that I was stunned. She had the kindest face of anyone I'd ever met, and an aura of such comfort and serenity that I nearly forgot why I was so morose before.

"She was an Angela – the true title of the maidens who can achieve Divinity. She had been traveling across countries, towns and villages; offering comfort to those touched by the Plague with the same gentle powers her Angela status granted her. She had been trained with some medical skills, nothing like the basic knowledge possessed today but more than the average person had at that time, and became not only a much appreciated helper for those of us yet to be touched by the Plague, but also a great pain reliever and soother for those who were.

"In the end, the Angela remained in Rain Village for two years as the wave of the Plague ran its course. She remained with us when we were ready to die, and refused to leave us to our fate in favour of a larger town with a higher probability of retaining survivors. She wept every time when the Plague finally claimed one of our citizens like any family member, and fought tirelessly to make sure everyone was taken care of and as comfortable as possible. She was a true pure maiden. She was a true angel sent directly from Heaven." Pein's voice trailed off with a hint of reverence, his mind lost in the memories of so long ago. His captive audience allowed the silence to settle, as they themselves found themselves lost in the memories with him. When he spoke again, they were not prepared for what he said next.

"The Angela miraculously saved many in our village. Those who recovered from the Plague bore its scars for the rest of their lives, but at the time it did not matter much as they were alive. However, the tireless work and devotion she had done for over two years without rest had demanded much of her. You must remember that ours was not the first village she'd visited. Her priority was always the village and its citizens, never herself. As a result, her powers were worn out and she became weak. Vulnerable. She contracted the last remnants of the Plague, and took it with her to the otherworld. Rain Village had survived thanks to her kindness and sacrifice.

"Needless to say, the town was devastated at her loss. Truly, I tell you, you will never taste such a bittersweet feeling in your life as triumphing over such dark odds only to lose so much in the process. By this time, I was no longer the scrawny ten-year-old who was preparing graves when he saw the Angela enter the village. I was now a man in a twelve-year-old body, who was determined to find a cure or at least a way to preserve his village from the Plague – because, even at that age, I knew it would keep coming until it killed all it could kill, until only the ones who were entirely immune remained. Few of those existed in Rain, too few to repopulate even if they chose to stay. I was determined to not let Rain Village disappear from the world without a trace; I was determined to make sure the Angela's work was not for naught.

"Being an orphan, it was an easy decision to leave my dear Rain. I knew if I wanted to achieve my goal, I had to seek out the most powerful, skilled and knowledgeable men in the world. We had no such men in pour village, even before the Plague struck. So only a year after the Angela's death and once I'd made sure the village was stable enough to run itself without me, I packed up my few belongings and after saying my good-byes to the villagers who wept at my decision to leave but understood my reasons, departed for the rest of the world.

"To make a long story short, I traveled all over the world. I covered Europe first. I was a bit old to become an apprentice to the doctors, alchemists, scientists and magicians at the time. Usually, boys were apprenticed to their masters since young, around eight years old or so. However, because of the Plague, there was a shortage of apprentices all over the continent, and so I was welcomed readily enough once I proved I did not carry the Plague with me and was smart with some education – a rarity for commoners back then – and hardworking in order to keep up with the rigours studies. And study I did. I mastered everything I was taught quickly and effectively, pleasing and surprising my masters so often it was more of a surprise for them if it took me even a week longer than usual to grasp a concept or perform a task as perfectly as them. My ability to learn quickly is what allowed me to apprentice under several masters, as an apprenticeship could last many years, even over a decade.

"One of the men I learned from was an old wizard named Jiraiya. He, too, had been struggling to find a cure for the abominable Plague, to no avail. By the time I came across him, he was nearing the end of his life, having lived well over two hundred years. He took me under his wing upon discovering that I myself was gifted with magic, and taught me everything he could during what remained of his life. From him is how I learned about Angelas. What he could not teach me directly, he left for me to study on my own after his passing, having left all his possessions, which included all his journals and magic books, to me. Having been educated in different areas of study, and being devoted to my studies for years, it was no great effort to teach myself based on what Jiraiya had wrote. Out of all my masters, he was the one I stayed with the longest. And he was the one who granted me his powers to add to my own upon his deathbed, making me the most powerful wizard in the land.

"With his magic and all the accumulated knowledge I'd gained, I continued my travels across the world. I visited Africa and consulted with their witch doctors, and traveled to the far east to meet with their oracles and wise men. There was little left for me to learn from them aside from studying the unique habitat they inhabited and the plants they grew. By the time I decided to return to Rain, having learned enough to begin my working on my goal, I was forty-eight; yet I looked no older than I do today which is the age at which I received Jiraiya's powers and discovered the magic for longevity: twenty-five. Mind you, I said longevity, not immortality. As a wizard, my lifespan was longer beyond a normal man's, and this is especially so as Jiraiya's magic power extended my life even further; however, I am currently living on borrowed time as it is. Soon my magic will wear thin like it did with the Angela's, and time will catch up with me. But let's not focus on that.

"Upon my return to Rain, a few of the villagers recognized me; though they believed they were hallucinating as I scarcely looked only ten years older than when I left when in fact it can been closer to forty. After explaining about my wizard powers, with some hesitance as witches and others gifted with magic powers were not exactly tolerated in Europe back then, my people welcomed me back and supported me wholeheartedly in my quest to find a cure, for it turned out I was right: the Plague had indeed come and gone as it pleased; sometimes a light passing with a small handful of casualties scattered among the nations, and sometimes stronger than it had been in years and wiping out whole families in every town in every land. I was relieved to find that Rain had remained relatively untouched by it since my departure. To this day, I wholly believe that the Angela's magic remained protecting us even without her directly present in our midst.

"My research became my life, my obsession. Every scrap of knowledge and theories I learned I poured out into my experiments, using my magic to make them as precise as possible and gave me the ability to test my experiments without human subjects. I am proud to say I made some progress, and discovered many secrets of life in my research. I eventually created a potion, a remedy that did not prevent the contracting of the Plague, but increased immunity so it was harder to become ill with it and in fact gave temporary full immunity to it, mainly in children. While not exactly a vaccination, as those last for a lifetime if not for many years, my potion offered children and youth about three days of complete immunity against the disease. It was perfect for temporary appearances, and showed that all my efforts were indeed bearing fruition.

"I do not consider myself an arrogant or selfish man, and so upon my discovery I decided to once more leave Rain in order to distribute my medicine to other towns and villages. Of course, I did so only after I had treated everyone in my village with it, and left them with a large quantity of it for the future, as I had no idea of when I'd be back. Aside from the medicine, I left a small metal earring one of my alchemist masters had given me, and I infused it with my magic. If my village ever needed me back for whatever reason, or had important news to share with me, they could let me know with the earring as I made a point to forever wear its counterpart." Pein absentmindedly rubbed one of the earrings hanging from his left earlobe – a gesture obviously many times repeated.

"I will not bore you any further with details of my travels," he continued, "but suffice to say that my potion was extremely successful, and there was no lack of offers given to me by many, many towns who wished for me to remain with them as an honorary citizen and master. Kings offered me whole palaces and hundreds of servants, with immense riches. However, I could not, for not only did other people need me, but my home would always be Rain Village.

"I shall end my tale here. The last I have to say is that on my numerous travels – for I always returned to Rain no matter how long I left for before parting again throughout the centuries – I met some interesting young men. Men who were broken beyond repair to the point where not even magic could help them. Directly, at least. For no matter how many centuries passed, I never forgot the Angela and what she could do with her healing powers; nor the fact that I knew there would always be an Angela in the midst of mankind.

"So in order to help those young men, I used my magic on them to also increase their lifespan, and so hopefully give them the chance to meet an Angela to heal their spirits so as to not leave this world with broken souls when their time came. However, I could only increase their lifespan if I gave them new forms, for increasing my own lifespan required great amounts of magical power as it was. To aid these young men, I had to give them forms whose lifespans were naturally longer than normal man's and use my magic to make sure they aged slowly, if at all, so they did not have to bear the burden of living with the most ancient of bodies while they awaited the Angela to appear."

Sakura's eyes widened as the clues of his tale started to fall into place. "You turned them into monsters," she said. He nodded his affirmation.

"There you have it," he concluded. "Make of it what will, Lady Angela."


	6. Chapter 6

** Part X: Monsters With Hearts of Men**

* * *

"Woah, woah, woah! Did he just call you 'Angela'?!" Naruto exclaimed as he looked at his pinkette friend in shock.

"Is that why you're wearing that dress?" Sasuke asked from her other side. She shrugged.

"He claims I'm the next Angela in line," she said, "and yes, that's why I'm wearing the dress. Though I have no clue what it has to do with anything."

"It looks an awful lot like a wedding dress…" Naruto trailed off as he shot a suspicious look towards the wizard.

"Now that you mention it, it does have an uncanny resemblance to one…" Sasuke murmured, shooting an equally suspicious glare his way.

"Tobi thinks Sakura-chan looks like an angel in that dress!" Tobi gushed as he jumped in place. "Sakura-chan is really pretty!"

"I concur," Itachi said, and soon enough the other males started giving their thoughts as well.

"I also agree, though I hope my being here isn't making you too cold."

"She looks like a damn fine bitch."

"Do _not_ speak about the doll that way, you ignorant dingbat. She's a masterpiece."

"I agree, yeah!"

"Princess really knows how to clean up, huh."

"How troublesome… but I also agree."

"Mademoiselle Sakura is pretty no matter what she wears."

"I wonder how much money I can make by selling her picture? It won't be hard to convince people she's really an angel."

"That's stingy Kakuzu's way of indirectly saying you're gorgeous, cutie. Don't take it to heart the old fart can't be more honest."

"Kiba, that's not nice. But I agree with everyone; she's more magnificent than any butterfly."

"Must you relate everything to insects, Shino? But you all have to agree, fate sure pulled one over us to make such a temperamental girl the Angela."

"You're one to talk, Neji; you never stop talking about fate and destiny. I should know, I'm the ultimate fate."

Sakura blushed at all the attention she was receiving. She honestly thought it was all just the dress, for it was indeed gorgeous without compare, but she'd be lying if she said she disliked how the pretty comments were directed at her and not the dress. Because really, she's not a hanger.

"Thank you," she told them, a brilliant smile lighting up her face. "You're all very kind."

The others looked bashful at her words and looked away, but not before the keen eyes of her two friends caught the pleased looks on their faces with the faintest of blushes. They nearly had a heart attack when they realized what was happening.

Looking back and forth between the group of monsters and their female friend, their minds raced as they tried to make sense of the situation. After everything that'd happened, they could well enough accept that they were in fact in the presence of monsters and a wizard powerful enough to challenge Merlin. But they could not, for the life of them and all that is holy, wrap their minds around the fact that Sakura, their Sakura, had every single one of said monsters absolutely whipped with just her smile.

Damn. And here those other guys were saying how whipped _they_ were.

It was at that moment that Naruto's eyes bulged as he finally realized why Pein was so damn familiar – he was the spitting image of a rising rock star back when they were kids who mysteriously disappeared along with his band in a freak accident in his private cruise. Naruto mouth his discovery to Sasuke behind Sakura's back, his actions wild and jerky but clear enough for the Uchiha to understand him. He too did a double-take on Pein and looked stunned.

Come to think of it, not only did Pein look like that rock star's twin, but he also had an uncanny resemblance to the painting of a man in one of his history textbooks…

Pein, having read their minds, smirked at them and spoke into their minds so as to not distract Sakura from her train of thought. He knew she'd come to same conclusion as her friends eventually. _I've been around a long time_, he reminded them, his voice echoing in their minds. _I needed some ways to pass the time, and of course different aliases so as to not cause a world-class panic._

To say the boys were a little disturbed at having Pein speaking directly to their minds was a severe understatement.

Sakura spoke again, oblivious to the inner conflict of her two friends. "So what exactly happened to you all that made you want to give up your humanity for the small chance that you actually came across and Angela? I mean, if there's only one every three hundred years, what are the chances you know where to find her, right?"

"That's a good question," Haku answered with a kind smile. "Sometimes, we ourselves question our decision. It is not easy to live as we have. However, the benefits that have come with our decision are no mere thing either."

"Besides, Pein is the Angela expert," Shikamaru added. "Using his magic, he can feel the auras of thousands of people at a time, as well as the land's. According to him, the land's aura starts to shift when an Angela is about to be born. Something about preparing itself for her arrival… how troublesome; even the Earth rearranges itself."

"That's so wicked!" Naruto exclaimed with a glint in his eye.

"But that doesn't answer my first question," Sakura argued.

"Leave things be, little one," Itachi advised her. "Our tales are far from happy ones if it lead to our decision to give up our humanity for the small chance of redemption. We do not wish to sadden you with what happened."

"But you _will_ tell _me_, right Itachi?" Sasuke cut in, the slightest of whines in his voice. "You're my _brother_, and I thought you were dead! You owe me an explanation." Itachi nodded.

"And you will get one."

"It's a little unfair that I get to know nothing about you guys while you all seem to want to know everything about me," Sakura pouted.

Kisame raised an eyebrow. "Getting a little conceited, aren't we? When did we say we wanted to know everything about you?"

Sakura gaped like a fish at him, blushing at his chiding words. "B-but… I mean, isn't that what… if I _am_ the next Angela…"

"You are," Kimimaro, Kakuzu, Kiba, Neji and Pein assured.

She scowled and stuck her tongue out at the blue man before turning away childishly. The shark-man laughed heartily at her reaction, coming closer to the human trio and squatting before her. Sasuke bristled at the confident, friendly manner of the strange man. "Come now, princess, don't be like that. I was just messing with ya," he said, trying to coax her from her tantrum. She shot him a disdainful look and looked the other way. Kisame looked a little hurt by her actions, but more than anything he was amused since he knew she wasn't scorning him.

Naruto patted his back. "Don't worry, you get used to it. She never holds grudges for long."

"It's not a grudge," he objected in a mumble. "I just don't like to be made fun of."

"Sakura-chan is pretty and smart!" Tobi cheered from across the room, doing a little Scottish dance in place. "Tobi thinks she can never be made fun of because she's too good for that!"

Everyone stared at the pirate before Naruto slowly turned to face Pein. "What the heck's wrong with that guy?" he asked, jabbing his thumb in Tobi's direction.

"A lot of things, yeah," Deidara answered. Pein said nothing, so Naruto assumed it was true. He questioned, not for the first time, how they all got involved with this crowd.

Neji pushed Kisame to the side as he floated closer to Sakura. She watched him curiously from the corner of her eye, wondering what he wanted.

"I hope you'll help us, Lady Angela," he said, bowing. "I know it might be too much to ask for, but if there's anything you can do we'd all be most grateful. We'll be in your debt for eternity."

"Now, now," Sakura said, flustered at the obvious display of reverence from the arrogant poltergeist. "There's no need for that – come on, get up! This is embarrassing!"

Neji looked at her peculiarly before doing as she said and remained floating in front of her. Sakura squirmed in her seat. She wasn't sure what was worse, having him bow down before like a servant or having him just stare at her while he hovered not half a yard away from her.

"So you will help us?" Pein inquired politely.

"What do _you_ her need help for?" Naruto asked, wrapping a protective arm around Sakura's shoulders. "I thought you just happened to have a hell of a long life."

"My reasons are my own." He paused, looking as if he were considering something, his odd ringed grey eyes never wavering from his or Sasuke's forms. Then as if having made a decision, he spoke. "I suppose I should tell you that both of you are now part of my monster group."

"WHAT!" all three friends shrieked (well, Sasuke yelled, more like, while Naruto indeed shrieked in the same high pitch as Sakura).

"_How?_" the blonde demanded, his eyes turning red once again as his tails waved restlessly behind him.

"Simple. You both have had some trauma in your lives, and while you're not broken enough to give up your humanity, you both need Sakura just like us. Though perhaps not as much. Hence, you are now part of my monsters."

"We didn't agree to this!" Sasuke hissed.

"Maybe not consciously, no. But in your hearts, you felt broken after you said such demeaning words to the Angela, which caused her to leave. Once she was gone, you two felt incomplete. And the longer she was away, the worst you felt. You need her in your lives; both of you."

"Basically, your innermost feelings made the decision for you," Kimimaro quietly translated Pein's cryptic words.

"It'd be nice if we were consciously informed," Naruto fumed, crossing his arms as his paw-clad fingers twitched on his bicepts. Sasuke nodded his agreement.

"You just were, _garçons_," Choji said.

"Who's the French fry?"

"That's Choji," Sakura answered, "and if you want to remain intact, you will not say anything to piss him off."

"I have a question, Pein-san," Sasuke politely said as he stood up, the blanket he'd wrapped around himself looking like a cape from a dramatic hero. One would think that he had regained his calm and was once more collected after the series of shocks he'd just gone though, but the slightest of twitches in his eye revealed that something, something big, was seriously annoying him. Curious, Pein gestured at him to continue.

"Why is everyone a different monster? And why the _hell_," he hissed, breaking his composure for a second, "am I dressed in this pathetic excuse of a costume? What monster am I anyway?"

Pein didn't answer him as his monstrous companions did so for him.

First up was Hidan. "In order, fucker: each of us was made into the closest monster to our cores. Take me, for example – you listening, you motherfucker? I'm a shitty zombie because some shitter flayed me and made me all bloody and fucking gross with loose flesh and the whole damn works when Pein-sama found me. Doesn't fucking help that I had a small fascination with the shit-dead coming back to life. Barbie there" – he waved in Deidara's direction, who scowled at him – "loved to lick all sorts of weird shit and nearly died in an explosion, which is why he's a pyromaniac demon with a shitload of mouths. Haku lived in the most gosforsaken cold place in the planet, and had a thing for snow like a bloody pansy, so he's a snowman."

"Man of Snow," Haku corrected.

"What-the-fuck-ever. So yeah, fucker, that's why. We're all a different monsters because we all have different damned life experiences which shaped our innermost selves, or our cores. Or some other bullshit like that; Pein is the one who explained it. I no longer give a rat's ass about the reason."

"For your second question," Shino continued, "you're dressed as you are because that's the form of you monster. Every time you revert back to your monster form, you will appear like that."

"Oh yeah?" Sasuke asked, irritated. "Then what monster is stupid enough to dress like a stripper from an S&M film, huh? Which one?"

Neji answered his final question, a sadistic smirk on his face. "An incubus."

Silence.

Sasuke's eye was twitching so hard in annoyance it looked like was winking in rapid fire. But everyone knew better. Of course, Naruto had to choose that moment to laugh like there was no tomorrow, just like Sakura had earlier.

"Sasuke's a manwhore!" he yelled loudly, gasping and whizzing between bursts of laughter while pointing at the irate Sasuke who looked ready to murder the next person to open his mouth. Or Naruto, if he didn't shut his. But of course, that wasn't happening. "God, Sasuke, I always thought you were the most asexual person in the planet, but who knew you were really such a closet pervert?! You're worse than Kakashi!"

"_Shut. Up._" Sasuke shot the most venomous of looks towards Pein. "Why am I such a degrading creature when Itachi is a vampire? Our lives weren't all that different!"

Pein shrugged a shoulder indifferently, not all that bothered by the obvious anger the younger Uchiha was throwing his way. "Like Hidan said, it's based on your core. But to be honest, it's easier to have different monsters than just a whole pack of copies. An incubus is the closest thing I could think of in such short notice for a vampire."

"_That's_ your reason?!" Sasuke threw the blanket off of him and made his way towards Pein with every intention to pummel him. Pein didn't move so much as an inch, but then again, he didn't need to as his monster companions immediately were at his side, ready to defend him. Luckily for them (or him), Sakura acted quickly and grabbed hold of Sasuke, wrapping her arms across his torso.

_Damn, Sasuke's toned!_ She thought before chasing the thought away. She needed to pay attention.

"Oh no you don't, mister," she warned him, holding him back on her own as Naruto was still dying of laughter back on the cushions. "Do you know what your fangirls will do to me if they find so much as one hair out of place if I let you do that? I am _not_ dealing with that crap!"

"Just one swing," Sasuke bargained through clenched teeth. "A little bit of black around the eye never hurt anyone. Just look at Gaara."

"Gaara has insomnia, you dolt! And frankly, I don't want Ino screeching in my ear for the next four months because Sasuke-kun … Sasuke-kun…"

Sasuke stopped straining against her hold and turned his head to look at her quizzically, not understanding why her hold loosened so suddenly or why she began to sound as if a Dementor had just sucked out her soul.

"Sakura?"

"Sakura-chan, tell Tobi what's the matter! Tobi will make it better!"

"What's wrong with the princess?"

"Sakura?"

"Mademoiselle?"

"Miss Sakura?"

"Sakura-san?"

"Sakura-chan, talk to me!" Naruto was suddenly at her side, spinning her around by the shoulders and forcing her to look at him. Her horrified expression and cold face made him fear the worse. A hundred scenarios ran through his head, each worst than the last. Her panicked expression mixed with horror filled him with untold dread, until he couldn't take it any more. "Sakura-chan, answer me!" he screamed in her as he shook her brusquely.

"There's no need to be so rough, kitsune, yeah," Deidara said as he was startled by the other blonde manhandling the Angela so.

"Ino.." she gasped.

"Ino? What about Ino?" Sasuke demanded.

"Who's Ino?" Kakuzu asked.

"Probably a friend," Sasori said.

"Her best friend," Naruto answered, "and the Queen Bitch if she so chooses to be. Sakura-chan, what about Ino?"

Sakura took a dramatic gasp before her eyes focused on her worried friends. "Her Halloween Bash."

It took a second for the boys to understand what she was getting at, but when they did, all the color left their faces.

Oh.

Shit.

"Quick, what time is it?!" Naruto demanded just as he spun around and began running towards the stairs, on the other end of the large room, pulling Sakura after him with Sasuke hot on their heels.

"What's the matter? Why the panic?" Kisame asked as he and the others ran after them, confusion marring their features.

"Didn't you hear? Ino is Sakura's best friend and the Queen Bitch, and she's having a Halloween Bash tonight!"

"So?" Neji asked as he flew above their heads.

"_We're LATE!_" Sakura shrieked as they flew down the stairs towards the fifth floor, into Tobi's, Kimimaro's and Haku's domain; shooting towards the stairs the moment their feet left the stairs and hit the floor. Sensing the urgency of the situation, even if they did not fully understand it, the three assistants in charge hurried past them and guided the party through a shortcut.

"Why is this such a big deal, yeah?"

"You fool, no one likes to be kept waiting."

"Will you idiots shut up?" Sasuke quipped at them over his shoulder. "What part of 'Queen Bitch' did you not get? There is a reason why we're not just worried about being late but downright frightened!" He glanced at the pinkette. "Mostly for her."

"Why are you scared for Sakura?" Pein asked. At Sasuke's look, he said, "right, got it. 'Queen Bitch.' But is she's Sakura's best friend, why would she pose a threat to Sakura?"

"It's precisely _because_ she's my best friend that I'm in deep shit if I'm late," Sakura answered as they made their way past Itachi, Neji and Kisame's floor, stampeding down the stairs towards the artist's world. "Who do you think put so much pressure on me to get a – not decent, not good, but _freaking great_ – amazing costume in the first place?"

"That doesn't sound like much of a friend," Itachi observed.

"She's a great friend, honestly," Sakura was quick to jump into her friend's defence. "But she's a world-class diva. And as her best friend, I better be fabulous and make her proud, or there will be consequences. It comes with the territory – ouch, Naruto, your nails are hurting me!"

"Sorry!"

"Pein, can I please borrow this dress for her party? I'll rent it, but I just don't have time to change into anything!" her desperation was clear in her voice as they reached the second floor.

"Almost there, Sakura!" Sasuke encouraged her.

"There's no need; that's rightfully yours as an Angela. Take it, no one else can wear it anyway. It's my gift from all of us to you." Relief flooded her face.

"Pein, I could kiss you right now."

"NO!" both Naruto and Sasuke cut in hotly.

Just as they reached the front doors of Akatsuki and exploded through them Sakura felt more than saw Pein's magic acting around her. Glancing over her shoulder, she saw Pein and the others were no longer following them but instead stood just within the boundaries of the door, looking after them. She tugged on Naruto's arm, wondering why they weren't following (Ino's mega parties invited the whole neighbourhood and then some, surely she wouldn't care if they came along). Pein noticed her hesitate before shaking his head and mouthing "go" at her with a small smile.

Filled with concern for her new friends and charges, she allowed Sasuke and Naruto to usher her into Naruto's car and speed away from the parking lot; the car tires screeching as they burned against the asphalt.

It was only once they were within a few blocks of Ino's house and deemed to have arrived not too late and therefore safe, did Sakura breathe a sigh of relief. And noticed the delicate, small white feather wings on her back and the golden halo floating innocently over her head.


	7. Chapter 7

** Part XI: The End (?)**

* * *

Two hours into the party, with a third of it having Ino bitching at them (mostly Sakura) about being late and then forgiving them because their outfit were _the bomb_, Sakura decided to take a breather. She went to the other side of the house (mansion, _cough_) where she knew no one to few people would be and stepped into a balcony to breathe in some fresh air. The day had been bizarre and exhausting, but she couldn't complain. She only wished she knew why the Akatsuki couldn't come with them. She imagined that they didn't go to parties much. Did they even know anyone that was not one of them?

She sighed. She wished they were there with her. She couldn't imagine being stuck with the same people for centuries, no matter how well along they got. A change of scenery might do them so good.

She missed them.

It was insane, to miss monsters like them, monsters she'd only been in the company of for a few hours. But she did. And she desperately wanted to help them, after they'd bared their souls to her.

A soft breeze waved her pink tresses about her as she sighed once again. She hopped she'd see them again, but frankly, she didn't know. If what Naruto had said was right, that they could only appear on Halloween because it was the time of the year when the veil between the supernatural and mortal worlds was at its thinnest, then she'd royally screwed up. Btu she promised to make it up to them. If she was indeed the Angela (she was still having difficulty at accepting it), then she'd use all her power to help them. She swore it vehemently.

Just as she turned around to go back into the house and the party, a series of whisper-like rustles alerted her to the appearance of someone nearby. She looked around, startled, when she heard a quiet chuckle above her. She looked up, and smiled.

"Well, well," she said. "Look who decided to show up."

"Our apologies, Angela," the owner of ringed grey eyes, which looked softly at her from a dark silhouette, said. "But we had to close the shop first."

She laughed quietly at his answer, before opening the balcony doors and gesturing him and his companions to follow her. "Well, you know what they say: the night is till young. I think tonight is the perfect time to start working on my Angelica duties, don't you? After all, I have to become the best Angela ever if I want to help all of you."

Pein shared an amused glance with his companions as they followed the pinkette, their thoughts all echoed as one.

_You already are._

* * *

**Author's time! **

**So, I've been working on this story for two and a bit years. I kid you not. I started writing this story as a Halloween special for Halloween 2012. It was originally a fun one-shot that just kept growing and growing until I simply couldn't finish it on time. I decided I could wait one more year to finish it. Nope. I procrastinated too late and couldn't finish it for Halloween 2013.**

**I simply refused to hold on to this story I've been dying to publish for another year, so I've been working at it bits at a time since last Halloween until I finished it. I can't tell you how many parts I had to rewrite - like honestly, I've never re-written more than a few paragraphs PER STORY, not per part. And then I was a little ****disappointment because the story had grown so much it was no longer a one-shot. You can tell because I had to divide it into parts. **

**So much for that.**

**Still, I hope you enjoyed it! Please review, pretty pretty please! It would mean so much to me after everything I went through. I'll love you forever~!**

**-AnimaAmore**


	8. ANNOUNCEMENT: SEQUEL!

**NOT A CHAPTER - AN ANNOUNCEMENT! IMPORTANT!**

**(if you liked this story, that is)**

**Hello munchkins!**

**I just thought that I'd make an announcement here for all of you, if you liked the story:**

**I'M THINKING OF MAKING A SEQUEL**

**This story is COMPLETE for those of you who don't know, but I think there are a few lose ends that can be taken care of on the side, as they're not really that important to this story.**

**The sequel will be a series of one-shots, each being the untold story of each one of Akatsuki's monsters, sans Pein whose story is already told. **

**Or maybe I'll include a side story of his anyway, albeit shorter. We'll see.**

**I think I'll call the story "The Men of Before" or something along those lines. TBA**

**So what do you think?**

**Let me know, either through review or voting (both would be awesome!)~!**

**Poll is up in my profile page.**

**Until next time!**

_**AnimaAmore**_


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